A French court today discovered how Gisele Pelicot, drugged and asleep, was filmed being brutally raped for 37 minutes by a man previously jailed for sexually abusing his own teenage daughter.
It is the latest horrifying twist in the trial of Dominique Pelicot, 72, who admits carrying out a decade-long campaign of sordid abuse against his wife, along with 50 other men accused of raping her as she lay unconscious.
Seven of his co-defendants are on trial at the Avignon court this week, one of whom appeared in the shocking 37-minute abuse clip filmed on the night of May 6, 2019.
The man in question is said to have told investigators that the experience was “like making love to a corpse,” but said he was innocent of rape because the presence of Gisele’s husband, who filmed the ordeal, “implied consent.” .
In court it emerged that the accused, a Moroccan now 70 years old and living in La Rochelle, had a series of previous convictions and in 1999 was sentenced to five years in prison for sexually abusing his daughter, who was then only 14. years. .
The man reportedly suffered an abusive childhood and is, according to psychologists, an impulsive drug user.
He also described himself as “psychologically disabled” and claimed he had been manipulated by Mr Pelicot.
Gisele Pelicot arrives at the Avignon court for the trial of her ex-partner Dominique Pelicot accused of drugging her for almost ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at her home in Mazan, a small town in the south of France, in Avignon.
Gisele Pelicot arrives with her lawyer Antoine Camus at the Avignon court
Dominique Pelicot enjoyed watching strangers abuse his wife. He repeatedly drugged his wife and invited strangers he met on the Internet to their family home to abuse her while he made home movies and took photographs.
This courtroom sketch by Valentin Pasquier shows Gisele Pelicot, left, and her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot, right, during their trial, at the Avignon court in Avignon, southern France.
The man who appears in court today not only denies raping Gisele, but also maintains his innocence in the case involving his daughter.
France’s BFMTV reported that the defendant claimed his conviction came as a result of a “trap” set by his former partner and children, even after an attempt to overturn the sentence was rejected.
Today’s revelation that Gisele Pelicot was abused by the man convicted of raping his teenage daughter comes just days after a horrifying video showing Mr. Pelicot was shown for the first time in the Avignon court last week. raping his drugged wife.
The 71-year-old, nicknamed the Monster of Avignon, was seen violently assaulting his unconscious wife in the 17-minute footage, which he filmed and saved in a file titled “Abuse” along with tens of thousands of photographs and videos.
Like many of his co-defendants, the 68-year-old is said to have traveled to Pelicot’s home after meeting him at the now-shuttered website coco.fr.
A man, named only Didier S, was seen with him in the clip, which was filmed in January 2019 at the Pelicots’ retirement chalet in Mazan, southern France.
The defendant, who declares himself homosexual, stated in court last Thursday that he had only wanted to have sexual relations with a man and that he did not know of Mrs. Pelicot’s presence until he arrived at the house.
But the shocking footage reportedly showed Didier S following Pelicot’s instructions anyway, performing oral sex on him and leaving the room when asked.
Gisele Pelicot arrives with her lawyer Antoine Camus (right) at the Avignon court
Mr. Pélicot appears before the Avignon court on September 11
The Pelicot house in the village of Mazan, now known as the house of horrors.
The video was filmed in a still shot from a rack, featuring gruesome scenes among a cache of 20,000 images preserved by Pelicot and discovered by police in 2020.
The researchers reviewed the images and identified 50 of the 83 that appeared in the depraved images.
Didier S, father of two, was identified in Pelicot files and taken into police custody on March 23, 2021.
‘What a bastard! “I didn’t think it was a trap,” Didier S. said during interrogation after being shown photographs of him in the Pelicots’ marital bed two years earlier.
Speaking in court, Didier S. said: “I got caught up in this, I don’t know why I didn’t leave.”
—Maybe because you expected something more? the attorney general asked.
“Yes, between Dominique Pelicot and me,” he replied. “In the end, I don’t even know why he called me, because there was nothing I could do,” he added. “And I got nothing.”
Another of the defendants, Patrick A, 60, also spoke.
Mr. Pelicot is said to have invited him to his home with the message: “I am looking for a perverted accomplice to abuse my little sleeping wife.” A beautiful prudish slut who doesn’t want a threesome.’
The defendant, who identifies as gay, claimed he only went to the house in March 2018 to meet Pelicot for sex.
The abuse took place in the southern French town of Mazan and was only discovered after the man was caught cheating on women in a local supermarket, prompting officers to search his home.
Dominique Pélicot is accused of recruiting men online to assault his wife repeatedly over 10 years
Dominique Pelicot, who allegedly drugged and raped his wife Gisele Pelicot, appears during his trial on September 17 (right)
People take part in a march in support of rape victim Gisele Pelicot on October 5, 2024 in Mazan, France.
He claimed Pelicot dragged him into the bedroom where his wife was asleep. “He said he needed that to turn her on.” And this man is very persuasive,” he reportedly said.
Patrick A obeyed Pelicot’s orders and abused his wife, saying: ‘I did it reluctantly. They let me fool. I had this thing of telling myself: after this, it will be the two of us.”
‘I was blinded. I wanted it too much,’ he added.
The footage was also said to show Pelicot performing a sexual act on Patrick A. However, he claimed he had a “blackout” during part of the meeting and did not remember arriving home.
“The more it goes on, the more I think they drugged me,” he said.
The trial will continue until December and even more images of the horrific attacks on Gisele Pelicot will be shown.
The 71-year-old mother of three bravely waived her right to anonymity to unmask the alleged perpetrators of a case that has shocked the world.
A woman holds a sign that reads, “Victim, we believe rapist, we see you,” during a silent march in support of Gisele Pelicot.
Gisele Pelicot, 71, has bravely waived her right to anonymity to unmask the alleged perpetrators of a case that has shocked the world
Over the past four weeks, French people have come out in droves to support her, with many organizing protests across the country.
One was held in Mazan, where most of the attacks took place, and hundreds of people marched through the quiet Provence town to show their support.
At the trial in Avignon, man after man claimed that Pelicot had “tricked” them into participating in his twisted fantasies of raping and humiliating his wife, many of which were filmed.
Pelicot enjoyed watching strangers abuse his wife and made home movies and took photographs.
They were only discovered when he was caught in September 2020 upskirting women in a local supermarket, and a subsequent police search of his home uncovered a catalog of thousands of photos and videos of his wife’s abuse.
Last month, Pelicot was in the dock and admitted his guilt, accusing all of his co-defendants of having been willful conspirators.
He told the court: “I am a rapist, like everyone else in this courtroom.”