Dominique Pelicot, the 71-year-old man accused of drugging his wife so that dozens of strangers could rape her, acknowledged this Tuesday that he is “a rapist,” and stated that Gisèle Pelicot “did not deserve” the hell she suffered for nearly ten years.
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“I am a rapist, like all the ones in this room. Everyone knew, they cannot say otherwise,” Pelicot stated, referring to the 50 co-defendants, some of whom expressed their disapproval.
I am a rapist, like all the ones in this room. Everyone knew, they cannot say otherwise
The man was absent from the trial for more than a week due to health issues, which generated anticipation for his presence this Tuesday in court, thanks to a medical protocol—adapted chair, breaks.
After being arrested in September 2020 for filming under the skirts of women in a supermarket in the city of Carpentras, investigators who searched his home found hundreds of videos and photographs on a hard drive that Pelicot had taken during the sexual abuse sessions of his drugged wife, to which he invited dozens of men.
Portrait of Dominique Pélicot in court.
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These videos and photographs have allowed the identification of just over fifty men, of whom 50 are being tried in this process that began on September 2, and in which each of them could be sentenced to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape.
Pelicot spoke about his childhood and acknowledged the abuses
At the start of his statement, the accused spoke about his childhood and two traumatic events he claims to have suffered: a rape by a nurse at the age of 9 and having participated in the gang rape of a woman with disabilities when he was 14.
“From my youth, I only remember shocks and traumas. In 1971, this beautiful encounter occurred (with Gisèle). It was too heavy to bear,” he explained in a halting voice and through tears.
“I endured for 40 years. I was very happy with her. She was the opposite of my mother; she was completely rebellious. I had three children, to whom I never did anything,” he added, facing his wife, who sat in the civil parties’ area.
According to the investigation, photos of his daughter and two daughters-in-law were found on his computer, which he took without their knowledge and, in some cases, when the women were naked.
Gisele Pelicot leaves the courtroom in France.
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Pelicot, who acknowledged being fully responsible for the crimes he is charged with, was embarrassed by his behavior in front of Gisèle, his wife of half a century, from whom he divorced in August: “I have ruined everything and lost everything. I have to pay.”
“I am guilty of what I did. I plead to my wife, my children, my grandchildren, to Mrs. M. (wife of another defendant whom he also allegedly raped) to accept my apologies. I ask for forgiveness even if this is not something acceptable,” he added.
I loved her for 40 years and I loved her badly for 10 years. I should never have done that
Pelicot stated that he did not commit any other acts of abuse beyond those discovered by the police. He indicated that he also suffered by seeing the abuses his wife endured and that he tried to stop “but the addiction was stronger.”
“She was wonderful,” he declared, while Gisèle stared at him in court. “I loved her for 40 years and I loved her badly for 10 years. I should never have done that,” he added.
Gisèle Pelicot’s statements in the trial
She stated, in response to this first statement by Dominique Pelicot, that in the 50 years she lived with her husband, she could not imagine that he would rape her, that she did not doubt him “for a single second,” and that she had trust.
“For 50 years, I lived with a man whom I could never imagine committing these acts of rape. He is aware of those acts of rape, but I did not doubt this man for a single second. I had complete trust in him.”
She added that “for 50 years, I loved this man, despite some phases,” and that she had such trust in him that they could have cut off both of her hands for believing what he told her.
The highly publicized trial has become a symbol of the use of drugs to commit sexual assaults, a practice known as chemical submission, and has reignited the debate in France on the issue of consent.
With the chant of “we are all Gisèle,” 10,000 people protested over the weekend in France in support of the main victim, who initially rejected the idea of having the trial held behind closed doors.