Footage has emerged showing the disturbing moment police finally caught Dominique Pélicot, dubbed the “Monster of Avignon” after he admitted drugging and then allowing strangers to rape his wife, when he was caught “hiking up her skirt”.
The 71-year-old is currently on trial at the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon, where he is one of 51 defendants.
Paris Match magazine has published disturbing images of Pélicot being caught filming videos of women up their skirts in a supermarket in Carpentras, south-east France.
Filmed on September 12, 2020, the video shows the white-haired grandfather wearing a mask as he places a camera under the skirts of randomly chosen victims at the Leclerc store.
“No, no, no,” is the reaction of a woman when Pélicot is confronted by a security guard who says that “four clients” have filed a complaint.
Pictures have emerged showing Dominique Pélicot, nicknamed the “Monster of Avignon”, being caught by supermarket security guards “lifting up the skirts” of female customers. The caption reads: “We were following him with the camera, that’s four times now!”
Pélicot was confronted by a security guard during the incident on September 12, 2020. The caption reads: ‘I was filming under your dress’
The caption recounts how Pélicot was arrested after being caught filming “female customers in a supermarket in Carpentras.”
Pélicot, dressed in red shorts and a grey T-shirt, is told “not to move” because the police are on their way.
They tell the grandfather that he is “disgusting” and that they will ask the women to testify against him to the authorities.
Pélicot is also ordered not to delete the videos until police arrive, to ensure there is sufficient evidence for prosecution.
She had originally been fined €100 (the equivalent of around £85) for uploading upskirt photos as part of a plea bargain process, but detectives later found other incriminating images on her devices.
It was during his arrest that Pélicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer at his home in Mazan, near Avignon, containing a file entitled ‘Abuses’.
Gisele Pelicot arrives at the court for her husband’s trial in Avignon. Pelicot has been accused of drugging and then allowing several unknown men to rape his wife between 2011 and 2020
He classified the nicknames and phone numbers of alleged rapists, as well as some 3,800 photographs and videos of his wife Gisèle Pélicot, now also 71, being raped, between 2011 and 2020.
Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified.
Pélicot’s sex network involved advertising for “sex partners” on an online forum called “Without Her Knowing” on the site coco.fr, which has since been shut down.
Of the 83 men involved, 51 between the ages of 26 and 73 were identified and arrested by the police.
Caroline, 45, told the Avignon court on Friday she believed her father had also drugged her, after police showed her photos of her unconscious on a bed in her mother’s underwear.
Caroline and her two brothers David and Florian had enjoyed an idyllic childhood and for most of their lives were blessed with a stable and happy family life.
It is said that Pélicot sedated his wife by giving her Temesta, a powerful anxiolytic, at her evening meal.
The alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor and truck drivers.
Fourteen of the other defendants admitted rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing.
Last week, Pélicot’s legal team insisted he was not well enough to testify because of abdominal pain and a suspected bladder infection.
He appeared briefly in court Wednesday morning, but defense attorney Beatrice Zavarro confirmed Thursday that he was “still ill” and would not appear.
Pélicot has been vomiting and fainting in his prison cell, where he has been held in pretrial detention since 2020, between visits to the hospital for treatment and tests.
Ms Zavarro’s arguments were accepted by trial judge Roger Arata, who said: “She requires medical treatment and will not be able to attend court for at least the rest of this week.”
Pélicot’s own daughter, Caroline Darian, 46, described him in court as “one of the biggest sexual predators” of recent years.
Pelicot, nicknamed the “Monster of Avignon”, is said to have sedated his wife by giving her Temesta, a powerful anxiolytic, at her evening meal.
She said he secretly photographed her naked, along with her two sisters-in-law.
In a separate case, Pélicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old real estate agent in Paris in 1991.
He admitted to attempted rape in 1999 after DNA evidence showed there were charges against him.
The Avignon aggravated rape case will be continued until December 21.