The confessed French rapist who allowed dozens of men to rape his wife after drugging her should spend a maximum of 20 years in prison, a prosecutor said today.
Attorney General Laure Chabaud on Monday called for Domique Pelicot, 71, to potentially spend the rest of his life in a cell.
He has admitted the “aggravated rape” of his ex-wife Gisele Pelicot, 72, along with some of the 50 other men on trial with him.
Speaking before the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon, Chabaud stated that two decades was all the law allowed.
‘What sentence should be imposed?’ she asked. “The maximum penalty is 20 years of criminal imprisonment, which is too much and too little considering the seriousness of the repeated attacks.”
Dominique Pelicot (top R) during his trial in which he is accused of drugging his wife Gisele Pelicot (bottom C) on November 25.
Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot leaves during a break in the trial of Dominique Pelicot with 50 co-defendants, at the courthouse in Avignon, France, on November 19, 2024.
Dominique Pelicot is accused of allowing several men to rape his wife while she was sedated
Chabaud said Pelicot, a mother of three, had been reduced to an “object” by men who simply “used her for easy sex” for almost a decade.
Her ex-husband contacted them all online and then invited them to return to the family home in Mazan, near Avignon, where they raped his drugged wife.
“Gisèle Pelicot’s condition, close to coma, should have raised the alarm,” said Ms. Chabaud.
“Rape is characterized by a lack of consent,” he added, stating that there was no possibility that the victim had voluntarily taken drugs to put her to sleep, as part of a “debauched game,” as the defense has suggested.
“What pleasure can you honestly get from it, let alone the side effects the next day?” Ms. Chabaud said.
Jean-François Mayet, the second attorney general in the case, said everything in the case was “out of the ordinary.”
Mr Mayet said: “These are the first words that came to mind when we were entrusted with the task of bringing charges in this case.
‘This trial gave rise to 59 volumes of judicial information, containing thousands of reports.
‘Our justice system is regularly criticized for being too slow; Let us thank him for having managed to conclude this extraordinary procedure in 31 months.
“The result of his work resulted in Dominique Pelicot being taken into police custody on November 2, 2020” and he has since been remanded in custody.
Mayet said “20,000 photos and videos” were found on Pelicot’s devices, all showing the subdued Pelicot, often subjected to horrific acts.
Addressing Ms Pelicot, who was in court wearing a purple blouse, the prosecutor said: “I applaud your bravery and the dignity with which you expressed yourself during these long weeks of hearings.”
Last week, both Pelicots gave their final statements in court.
Pelicot’s daughter Caroline gestures as she leaves the Avignon courthouse on November 20
David, one of the two sons of Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, during a break in the trial of his father Dominique Pelicot with 50 co-defendants, at the Avignon court, on November 19.
The empty courtroom during a break in the Dominique Pelicot trial, November 20, 2024
After his own son called him “the devil incarnate”, Mr Pélicot made a personal appeal to his family, saying: “I thought they would be devastated, but not to this extent.”
‘I measured the damage caused by my annihilation and I bitterly regret it, but I want to emphasize that I have never touched my children or grandchildren.’
In turn, Mrs. Pélicot denounced the “cowards” who raped her and criticized “a sexist and patriarchal society where rape is trivialized.”
Mrs Pélicot was supported in court by her youngest son, Florian Pélicot, 38, who on Monday told his father: “I am very grateful to have our mother alive, but I have a lot of incomprehension about what our father did.” .
Mr. Pélicot added: “You always said that our mother was a saint. But you were the devil incarnate.
The couple’s three adult children have testified against Dominique Pélicot, who appears in court in a glass-fronted dock.
The retired electrician and real estate agent crushed sleeping pills into his wife’s food and drink and then invited strangers to rape her between 2011 and 2020.
He saved hundreds of rape videos on his computer in a file titled ‘Abuse’ and admitted the charges against him, telling the court: ‘I am a rapist.’
Some of her co-defendants admit rape, while others say they did not know Gisèle Pelicot was on drugs, despite videos showing her snoring loudly.
Gisele Pelicot speaks during her husband’s trial with 50 co-defendants at the courthouse in Avignon, France, on November 19.
Gisele Pelicot (center) with her lawyers Antoine Camus (left) and Stéphane Babonneau (right) leave the Avignon court during the trial, November 20.
Pélicot, a former logistics manager, has become a feminist icon after saying the trial has raised awareness about the use of drugs to rape women.
Mrs. Pélicot said she had suffered “acts of barbarism” and would not “feel at peace until the end of my life.”
And he added: “I will learn to live with it.” I will rebuild myself. But there will always be 51 people who have contaminated me.”
Fourteen other men, in addition to her husband, confessed to raping her, while the others deny the charges, arguing that they thought Mrs. Pélicot had given consent to have sexual relations with them.
The trial continues and is expected to end on December 20.