A former prison guard who guarded the Monster of Avignon while he was in custody is the latest man to testify in the shocking rape trial.
Quentin Hennebert, 34, worked at the prison where Dominique Pelicot, 71, was held after being arrested in 2020 for upskirting, before resigning and becoming an ambulance driver.
Pelicot is accused of drugging his ex-wife Gisele and inviting dozens of men to rape her while he watched and filmed them over a hellish period of a decade in a case that has made headlines around the world.
Earlier this week she bravely took the stand and gave up her anonymity to lend her support to other rape victims, telling them: “We don’t have to feel ashamed, they are the ones who should be ashamed.”
Hennebert told the Avignon court that he had joined the swinging site Coco.fr, where Pelicot recruited men to abuse Mrs Pelicot, to “sell ecstasy and MDMA” and added: “I’m not proud of myself.”
Earlier this week, Gisele Pelicot bravely took the stand and waived her anonymity to lend her support to other rape victims, telling them: “We don’t have to feel ashamed, they are the ones who should be ashamed.”
Quentin Hennebert testified before the Avignon court that he had joined the couples exchange site Coco.fr, where Dominque Pelicot recruited men to abuse his wife.
Dominque Pelicot (pictured) is accused of drugging his ex-wife Gisele and inviting dozens of men to rape her while he watched and filmed them over a decade-long period of hell.
He said: “I bought the drugs for 300 euros and was able to sell them for three or four times the price.”
The court heard how Hennebert had visited the Pelicot family home in the village of Mazan in November 2019 while working at the prison and ten months before Pelicot was arrested.
He said: ‘In my work I can see court documents, police investigation material and I saw Pelicot’s name come up.
‘I made the connection with what had happened and thought that sooner or later the police would come knocking on my door. I really haven’t been at peace since I saw the name.
At that point the prosecutor interrupted and asked: ‘So you were at peace when you left the Pelicot house?’
Hennebert, who admitted to being raped, responded: “When I got into my car afterwards, I realized I had made a big mistake and I just wanted to erase it from my memory.”
Ms Pelicot’s lawyer, Stéphane Barbonneau, said: “She is an exceptional woman and we have heard from her how determined she is to make her story heard.”
A judicial sketch of Mrs. Pelicot in the Avignon court, during the trial of her former partner accused of drugging her for almost ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at her home in Mazan.
Before the trial, Ms Pelicot’s lawyer, Stéphane Barbonneau, said: “She is an exceptional woman and we have heard from her how determined she is to make her story heard.”
‘Every day of this trial we see how deep the problem exists in society and what she wants to do is make sure that all the victims are not forgotten.
“He expects nothing from the defendants and cannot accept their excuses.”
He added that the line of defense of some of the accused that it was an “accidental rape” was “inaudible to society.”