- Pelicot, 71, has been taken under armed guard to the Vaucluse Criminal Court.
This is the first photograph of Avignon Monster Dominique Pelicot taken since his arrest for the mass rape of his wife by strangers he met on the Internet.
For the past five weeks, the retired electrician has been taken under armed guard to Vaucluse Criminal Court, where he is accused of masterminding the sex case that has shocked the world.
Protected by motorcycle escorts and driven in a marked prison van directly to the courthouse, Pelicot has been protected from the growing public outcry over his wife Gisele’s unimaginable betrayal.
Pelicot admitted to drugging her dinner and a glass of rosé wine to render her unconscious and then inviting dozens of men to rape his wife in their marital bed at their home in a picturesque village in the south of France over ten years.
But the 71-year-old refused to be photographed as he sat in the dock hearing the case against him and 50 men police identified as his accomplices.
This is the first photograph of Avignon Monster Dominique Pelicot taken since his arrest for the mass rape of his wife by strangers he met on the Internet.
The retired electrician has been taken under armed guard to Vaucluse Criminal Court throughout the proceedings, in a case that has shocked the world.
Gisele Pelicot is seen arriving at court this morning, accompanied by her legal team.
Dominique Pélicot is accused of recruiting men online to assault his wife repeatedly over 10 years
However, despite raising his hands to hide his fleshy face, Pelicot has been unmasked as one of France’s worst sex offenders and dubbed the Monster of Avignon.
This morning, the gray-haired grandfather returned to the dock, dressed in a white shirt, gray cardigan and blue pants, to listen as seven of his accomplices were questioned about their role in this sordid affair.
The case continues to shake France, with thousands of people taking to the streets in support of the victim.
Most of the defendants deny being rapists and claim they were “deceived” by Pelicot, who told them that his wife had agreed to participate in a sex game in which she pretended to be asleep during sex.
Detectives discovered about 20,000 graphic images he had collected of his wife’s rape when he was arrested in 2020, after he was caught taking upskirt photographs of women at his local supermarket.
This week, seven men – including a hospital nurse, a builder and a pastry chef – will testify at the trial, which is expected to last until the end of the year.