Gisèle Pelicot’s former husband has been convicted of aggravated rape.
Dominique Pelicot, who was married to Gisèle for 50 years, admitted to drugging her repeatedly over the years, allowing him and strangers he found on the internet to assault her while he recorded these crimes.
Additionally, Dominique has been found guilty of attempting to rape the wife of one of his accomplices and of taking inappropriate images of his daughter, Caroline, and his daughters-in-law, according to BBC News.
He has been handed a 20-year prison sentence.
Several other co-defendants have also been found guilty on various charges connected to the case.
The youngest of these is Charly Arbo, who is 30 years old.
A French panel of five judges announced their verdicts today (December 19) for the numerous men accused of aggravated rape and sexual assault on Gisèle, in a landmark case that has resonated in France and internationally.
This traumatic ordeal, which unfolded over nearly a decade within what Gisèle believed to be a loving marriage, and her bravery throughout the trial, lasting over three months, has elevated her to a feminist icon in the country.
The trial, which lasted over three months, has invigorated activists fighting against sexual violence and has sparked demands for stricter actions against rape culture.
Gisèle only became aware of the abuse she had endured for years after her then-husband was caught taking inappropriate photos of women in a supermarket in late 2020, leading to a police investigation of his electronic devices.
Authorities discovered a vast collection of homemade images documenting the abuse against his wife—over 20,000 photos and videos catalogued in folders with titles like ‘abuse’, ‘her rapists’, and ‘night alone’.
The extensive evidence enabled police to track down other culprits. In the footage, investigators identified 72 different perpetrators, although not all could be identified.
It is believed that more than 80 men might have raped Gisèle.
If you have been impacted by any topics in this article, you can reach The National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Alternatively, online support is available through online.rainn.org