Dominique Pelicot Sentenced to 20 Years in French Mass Rape Trial
"I think of all the unrecognized victims of stories which often unfold in the shadows," Gisèle Pelicot told reporters after the verdicts were read. "I want you to know we share the same fight."
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On Thursday, Dominique Pelicot, the man accused of repeatedly raping his ex-wife while she was unconscious and inviting over a reported 80 men to take part between 2011 and 2020, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Since September, the 72-year-old has stood trial alongside 50 other defendants who were also found guilty of at least one charge in a French court today. Their sentences vary depending on how many times each man visited the Pelicot home, but were by and large less than what prosecutors had demanded, according to the BBC. The woman at the center of the case, Gisèle Pelicot, along with the three children she shared with Dominique, were reportedly “emotionless” as the verdicts were read in court.
Since the proceedings began, the case has horrified France and sent shockwaves across the world due largely in part to the abhorrent abuse inflicted upon Gisèle. The rapes were recorded by her then-husband and kept on his hard drive until they were discovered by authorities when he was arrested for taking photos up women’s skirts at a supermarket in southeastern France in 2020.
That November, while French authorities were investigating Dominique, they found a folder entitled “abuses” that contained thousands of photos and videos of him and other men—complete strangers—sexually assaulting his then-wife while she was unconscious. In total, police counted 20,000 images. Prior to the investigation, Gisèle had no idea. For nine years, Dominique was regularly drugging his wife with a number of medications, including Temesta, an anti-anxiety drug that can take effect like a sedative.