The Monster of Avignon, who recruited dozens of men to rape his unconscious wife after drugging her over a ten-year period, had a “disciple” who learned and copied his methods, a court heard as the shocking trial continues.
Dominique Pélicot, 71, is on trial in the French city of Avignon for repeatedly raping and encouraging others to rape his wife, Gisèle, also 71, in the southern town of Mazan. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The court heard on Wednesday how another man on trial, identified only as Jean-Pierre, 63, allegedly learned from Pélicot how to drug and rape his own wife. The “disciple” is not among the 51 men on trial for attacking Mrs Pélicot.
The former truck driver allegedly spoke to Pélicot in an online chat called “Against her knowledge.” Pélicot then allegedly provided “Jean-Pierre” with sedatives to drug his wife, before traveling to rape her himself.
The harrowing case continues to shock France, with the defendants facing up to 20 years in jail if convicted of aggravated rape. The lengthy trial is expected to continue until December, more than three years after Pélicot’s arrest.
Dominique Pélicot is accused of recruiting men online to assault his wife repeatedly over a 10-year period
Gisèle Pélicot arrives at the court in Avignon, France, on the eighth day of her trial
In a new sketch by the artist, Mr. Pélicot appears in court in Avignon on September 11.
As new and horrific dimensions of the case continue to emerge in the trial, it was alleged on Wednesday that Jean-Pierre’s wife was raped 12 times between 2015 and 2020.
Jean-Pierre told the court that he admitted the charges.
Pélicot is believed to have met Jean-Pierre in the now-defunct chatroom, before agreeing to visit him to deliver sedatives and rape his wife with him.
“Every time (Pélicot) travelled (there), he was given medication for the next trip,” lead investigator Stéphan Gal told the court.
Pélicot’s lawyer said he had supplied drugs to Jean-Pierre up to four times.
Jean-Pierre’s 32-year-old son from another marriage said he felt it was “true” that his father had been manipulated by Pélicot.
“I firmly believe that if I had not met that person, none of this would have happened,” he said.
Mr Pélicot, a retired electrician, has already admitted putting powerful sedatives in his wife Gisèle’s dinner and rosé wine for almost a decade to render her unconscious.
All the attacks took place at the couple’s marital home in the town of Mazan, southern France, between 2010 and 2020, according to police.
Mrs. Pélicot told the court that she had to take an HIV test because “a man who came (to rape me) six times was HIV positive.”
Judge Roger Arata asked Madame Pelicot if she was suffering from any problems after being abused for ten years, to which she replied that she had been tested for HIV and added: “I was diagnosed with four sexually transmitted diseases at the forensic medical unit in Versailles.”
Police also discovered sickening photographs of his daughter, Caroline, and two daughters-in-law in a haul of some 200,000 images and videos he kept of them in a computer file titled “abuse”.
Madame Pélicot has bravely taken the stand to testify against her ex-husband.
The assault took place in the southern French town of Mazan and was only discovered after the man was caught pulling down women’s skirts in a local supermarket, prompting officers to search his home.
Dominique Pelicot can be seen in this court sketch on the right.
Some 84 men she had met in a popular internet chat room took turns sneaking into her modest chalet in a village near Avignon to rape Mrs Pélicot in the marital bed.
Eighteen of the 51 accused men are in custody while the trial continues. Thirty-two are free.
One of them, who remains at large, will be tried in absentia.
Mr Pélicot was due to be questioned this week at the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon.
But his legal team insisted Thursday morning that 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 Mr Arata, who said: “She requires medical treatment and will not be able to attend court for at least the rest of this week.”
In France, criminal proceedings can be dropped if a defendant is deemed too physically or mentally ill to participate.
Judge Arata has repeatedly stated that Pélicot is the main defendant and needs to be questioned extensively.
But Mr. Pélicot has He told psychologists that his wife was to blame for his actions because she refused to go swinging with him.
Psychologist Annabelle Montagne told the Avignon court that she interviewed Pélicot in December 2020, a month and a half after his arrest, where he admitted to having carried out the campaign of abuse against his wife Gisele.
Pélicot said: “My wife and I had a discussion about swinging, but she didn’t agree, so I drugged her,” the psychologist said.
In court, Ms Pélicot explained that the matter had been discussed in a nightclub, but that she “did not want to get involved”.
The case only came to light because the man had been arrested in September 2020 for taking upskirt photos of women in a supermarket in a nearby town.
Officers detained him for questioning, during which he was examined by a psychologist because “it did not appear to be his first offence,” France3 reported.
This image shows a black and white facial reconstruction of a younger Dominique P.
A courtroom drawing shows Madame Pelicot taking the stand, facing her husband and the 50 other people accused of raping her.
Police found a file on Pelicot’s computer labeled “My naked daughter.” Pictured: Caroline Darian (left) in court during her father’s trial
The examiner deemed the man to be a “voyeuristic sexual deviant,” after which the police ordered a search of his home.
During the search, officers seized a computer, three memory cards, two mobile phones and a video camera, where they discovered the tapes.
During interviews following his arrest, Mr. Pélicot maintained that the disgusting abuse against his wife of 50 years, Gisele, would have continued had he not been arrested.
On Monday, psychologists described Pélicot as a “Jekyll and Hyde” type of character who drugged his wife so that strangers could rape her at night.
He told detectives that during the day he considered himself a “good husband” to Mrs. Pélicot, whom he married in 1971 and had three children with.
The couple’s divorce was finalized last month, and Ms. Pélicot has been present in court throughout the trial so far, along with her adult children.