Dominik’s ex-husband was jailed for 20 years

The ex-husband of French rape survivor Giselle Pellicot has been jailed for 20 years after drugging and raping her for nearly a decade and inviting dozens of strangers to abuse her.

Dominique Pellicot, 72, was found guilty of all charges by a judge in Avignon, southern France, and wept in court as he was sentenced to the maximum term.

He was tried along with 50 other men, all of whom were found guilty of at least one charge, although their prison terms were shorter than prosecutors had sought.

Ms Pellicott and her children appeared emotionless as the verdicts were read, occasionally glancing at the defendants and leaning their heads against the wall.

The guilty verdicts ended France’s biggest rape trial, which shocked the country and the world for three months.

On Thursday morning, police blocked off the road outside the courthouse to accommodate hundreds of people who turned out to offer their support for Ms Pellicott.

A large banner reading “Thank you Giselle” was draped on the wall facing the entrance.

Beneath it, several members of the public chanted “rapist, we see you” as the accused were paraded ahead of the trial.

Speaking outside court after the sentencing, Ms Pellicott said the trial had been “a very difficult ordeal”.

Her grandson, who is now a teenager, stood by her side for the first time with a hand on her shoulder as she addressed the media.

Her voice shook just once when she said she “never regretted” the decision to open the court “so the public could see what was going on”.

The 72-year-old’s decision to waive her automatic right to anonymity was highly unusual.

She attended nearly every day of the trial, appearing in the same courtroom as her now-divorced husband.

French and international media followed the case with increasing interest, and hundreds of journalists attended the court on Thursday.

Hundreds of people chanted her name and sang feminist songs as Ms Pellicott spoke.

She expressed her “deep” gratitude to her supporters and said she was “confident” of a “better future” where men and women could live in “mutual respect”.

Ms. Pellico’s ex-husband, Dominic Pellico, who has already admitted his crimes, was found guilty of aggravated rape.

He was also found guilty of attempted aggravated rape of the wife of one of his co-defendants, Jean-Pierre Marechal.

Marechal, who was described as Dominique’s “disciple” because he had raped his own wife for years and invited Dominique to do the same, was jailed for 12 years.

Dominic Pellico was also found guilty of taking indecent photographs of his daughter Caroline Darian and daughters-in-law Aurora and Celine.

Caroline, who was in court on Thursday, earlier told the trial that she felt like a “forgotten victim” because, unlike her mother’s case, there was no record of the abuse she believes she suffered.

Dominique denied drugs and abuse of his daughter.

“I will never come to you and you will die alone like a dog,” she shouted at him in court in November.

After the sentencing, defense attorney Dominique Pellico said her client was “somewhat stunned” by his sentence and would consider appealing. He has 10 days to decide whether to do so.

Dominic Pellico was charged with 50 other men, 46 of whom were found guilty of rape, two of attempted rape and two of sexual assault.

Some of them have already spent years in prison since they were arrested during the original investigation in 2021 and will therefore be released relatively soon.

Most of those convicted denied that what they did was rape.

They claimed they did not know Ms Pellicott was unconscious and therefore did not “know” she was being raped. It’s an argument that has sparked a nationwide debate about the legal definition of rape in France.

The accused faces from three to 15 years of imprisonment.

In a statement to the AFP news agency, the Pellicote children said they were “disappointed” by the “low sentences”.

For nearly a decade, beginning in 2011, Dominique Pellico drugged and raped his now-ex-wife, and recruited dozens of men online to have sex with her while she was unconscious.

His crimes came to light in 2020 when police arrested him on a separate charge of filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket.

Police confiscated his devices and found thousands of videos on his laptop with evidence of around 200 rapes.

Investigators used video footage to track down his co-defendants, although they were unable to identify another 21 people.

Dominic Pelico pleaded guilty to the charges in 2020.

The trial sparked a debate over whether the question of consent should be added to the legal definition of rape in France, as it is in other European countries.

Currently, rape in France is defined as “any act of sexual penetration committed against another person by force, coercion, threat or surprise”, which means that prosecutors must prove intent to rape.

Many of the defendants claimed they did not know Ms Pellico had not given consent, claiming they had been “tricked” by Dominic Pellico and believed they were going to the couple’s home for a threesome with the fantasy that the woman would be sleeping.

The court also shed light on the question of chemical subjugation or sexual violence caused by drug use.

Most of the 50 men came from towns and villages within a 50 km (30 mi) radius of Pelikotau Mazan’s home village.

They are included firefighters, truck drivers, soldiers, a journalist and a DJand were described by lawyers as “ordinary people”, earning them the nickname Monsieur-Tout-Le-Monde (Mr. Everyman).

The trial also drew attention to sexual violence against women in France, with many praising Ms Pellicot for her courage in going public.

She previously said she was determined to force a “reverse of shame” from victim to rapist. This is a phrase repeated by her fans.

But Ms Pellicote has made it clear that behind her facade of strength “lies a field of ruins” and despite widespread recognition of what she has done, she is a reluctant hero.

“She keeps saying, ‘I’m normal’ – she doesn’t want to be seen as an icon,” her lawyer Stefan Babono told the BBC.

“Women tend to have a strength within them that they can’t even imagine, and that they have to trust themselves. This is her message.”

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