Gisèle Pelicot's Ex-Husband Found Guilty Of Rapes, All Other Charges Against Him In France
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Dominique Pelicot received the maximum possible sentence under French law for drugging and raping and wife and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious.
AVIGNON, France (AP) — A court in France on Thursday sentenced the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot to 20 years of imprisonment for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious, in abuse that lasted nearly a decade.
The sentence against Dominique Pelicot was the maximum possible under French law. He was declared guilty of all charges against him. At age 72, it could mean that he spends the rest of his life in prison.
Roger Arata, the lead judge of the court in the southern French city Avignon, told Pelicot to stand for the sentencing. After it was delivered, he sat back down and cried.
Arata read out verdicts one after the other against Pelicot and the 50 other men tried in the shocking case that stunned France and spurred a national reckoning about the blight of rape culture.
“You are therefore declared guilty of aggravated rape on the person of Mme. Gisèle Pelicot,” the judge said as he worked his way through names on the list.
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