TRUE CRIMEFrench Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Drugging His Wife Gisèle Pélicot and Inviting Dozens of Other Men to Rape Her
Gisèle Pélicot was drugged by her husband for nearly 10 years.
Dominique Pélicot has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
According to the BBC, Dominique's heinous crimes came to light after he confessed in court in September that he's "a rapist."
He was also found guilty of the attempted aggravated rape of the wife of one of the other accused men — Jean-Pierre Marechal — and of taking indecent images of his daughter, Caroline Durain, and his daughters-in-law, Aurore and Celine.
The 72-year-old man cried as the judge read out the sentences in court. Gisèle and her children, including daughter Caroline, were present in court for the sentencing.
Dominique Pélicot's heinous crimes came to light after he confessed in court in September that he's a 'rapist.'
"I used to say to him, 'How lucky am I, you're a darling, you really look after me,'" Gisèle previously said in court.
The prosecution revealed that Dominique had been drugging his wife and filming the rapes from 2011 to 2020. He used various methods to incapacitate Gisèle, including secretly crushing drugs into her favorite dessert, raspberry ice cream.
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Gisèle Pélicot said, 'This scar will never heal.'
Dominique was arrested in December 2020 after police seized his electronics while investigating him for filming up the skirts of three women, prosecutors previously said.
Gisèle claimed to have no idea about the rapes until police told her about the thousands of photos and videos her husband took of the crimes. According to the judge's report, the husband documented the abuse after recruiting strangers on the internet.
“I’ve lost 10 years of my life that I’ll never make up for," she said in court. "This scar will never heal.”
Gisèle claimed she would never “find peace” over the ordeal and said the 50 men had “sullied” her.
“I’ve seen people take the stand who deny rape, and some who admit it. I want to say to these men: When you entered that bedroom, at what point did Madame Pelicot give you her consent?” she continued.
Hundreds protested in support of Gisèle Pélicot.
Dominique's confession led to the trial of 50 other men, aged between 26 and 74, who were implicated in related crimes, including aggravated rape, sexual assault and child abuse imagery.
These men, like Dominique, received guilty verdicts and were also sentenced by the court. This included Marechal, who was found guilty of attempted rape and aggravated rape of his wife, as well as drugging her.
