FEARS are growing that a pensioner who allegedly recruited 72 men to rape his wife may have also drugged and sexually assaulted their daughter.
Dominique Pélicot, 71, kept a folder of nude photos of the couple’s only daughter on his laptop, a court was told today.
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Dominique P is accused of recruiting men online to assault his wife repeatedly over a 10-year periodCredit: DR
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Alleged victim Gisele Pélicot arrives in court in FranceCredit: AFP
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Caroline Darian (L) in court with her mother (C) Credit: AFP
The alleged victim, Gisele Pélicot, 72, says her husband spent nearly a decade inviting men he met online to sexually assault her.
Dominique, who has been married to his wife for more than 50 years, is accused of putting lorazepam in her food to knock her unconscious before allowing the acts to take place, the court heard.
The father-of-three is said to have then filmed the horrific attacks over nine years between 2011 and 2020.
Dominique faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
It emerged on Tuesday that images of the couple’s only daughter were found on Dominique’s laptop after police searched his devices after arresting him.
The pictures showed Caroline Darian, who was described as almost certainly drugged, with no clothes on.
Dominique kept all the photos in a folder titled “About My Daughter, Naked,” courtroom officials said.
I’m convinced I was drugged, but he’ll never admit it
Caroline Darian, daughter of Dominique
Caroline burst into tears as judge Roger Arata began reading the details of the pictures.
She was in the public gallery and had to leave the courthouse for about 20 minutes before re-entering.
Now in her 40s, the daughter has already spoken out against her father, saying she is “haunted by the fear” that she may have been raped.
In a book about the case, titled “And I Stopped Calling You Dad,” Caroline wrote: “I’m convinced I was drugged, but he’ll never admit it.”
The judge has already read quotes from the book in court.
Hundreds of images and videos of Gisele – mostly in the fetal position and apparently unconscious – were also discovered, police said.
Dominique and 51 other men are accused of aggravated rape in a trial at the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon, which is expected to last four months.
The alleged rapists, aged between 21 and 68, include a forklift driver, a fire officer, a company boss and a journalist.
Some were single, others were married or divorced, and some were family people.
While most participated only once, some did so up to six times, it is claimed.
Pélicot was said to be an alleged multiple rapist who moved his family from the greater Paris area in 1991 and then set up an alleged sex ring.
‘Monster from Avignon’: The case that shocked France
WRITTEN by Juliana Cruz Lima, foreign news reporter
FRENCH pensioner Dominique Pélicot is on trial accused of drugging his wife and allowing 72 strangers to rape her.
The 71-year-old allegedly invited men he met online to attack his wife Gisele Pélicot, 72, after they slipped lorazepam into her food to knock her out.
He was then said to have filmed the horrific attacks over nine years between 2011 and 2020.
After being married for two years after meeting in 1971, the couple had three children.
When the family moved to Mazan two years later, a horrific campaign of alleged sexual abuse by Pélicot is believed to have begun in 2011 while they were staying near Paris.
Police launched an investigation when a security guard discovered a pensioner secretly filming up three women’s skirts in a shopping center in September 2020.
According to police, hundreds of pictures and videos of his wife—mostly in the fetal position and apparently unconscious—were discovered on his computer.
The images allegedly showed multiple rapes that took place at the couple’s home in Mazan, a hamlet of 6,000 people in Provence, some 20 miles from Avignon.
Investigators also discovered conversations on a website called coco.fr, which has since been taken down by police, where he allegedly invited strangers to his home so he could have sex with his wife.
Pélicot then informed investigators that he had given his wife strong sedatives, including the anti-anxiety drug Temesta.
Prosecutors claim that the husband participated in the rapes, filmed them and used degrading language to encourage other men.
In earlier hearings, he described the numerous measures he used to keep his wife and family from finding out about his terrible activities.
Dominique Pélicot is also charged with murder and rape in 1991, which he denies, and attempted rape in 1999, which he admitted to after DNA testing.
Although tests published in court documents allegedly showed the man had a need to feel ‘omnipotent’ over the woman’s body, experts said the man did not appear to be mentally ill.
The shocking trial will last until December 20.
It involved posting ads for “partners” on a web forum called “Without Her Knowledge.”
According to the French newspaper Le Point, Pélicot placed strict restrictions on any men he invited to rape his wife.
These include: no cigarettes or perfume and neat and trimmed nails.
Gisele’s state “was closer to coma than sleep,” due to the alleged drugs she was given, according to experts.
Asked to confirm his name and address at the start of proceedings, Mr Pélicot said: “My home is a prison, you know that”.
Twenty of the 51 accused persons — including Pélicot — were kept in custody, while the others were released on bail.
Police have counted a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified and are on trial along with the main suspect, a former employee of the French power company EDF.
Meanwhile, before she bravely faced her husband at trial, Gisele was shown horror videos to prepare her for what would be shown in court.
She waived her right to anonymity “in order to raise as much awareness as possible” after her horrific ordeal.
Gisele’s lawyer, Antoine Camus, said: “She could have opted for a closed trial, but that’s what her attackers would have wanted.
Still, he said, Gisela’s trial will be a “terrible ordeal” for her.
“For the first time, she will have to relive the rapes she suffered over 10 years,” Camus said, adding that his client “doesn’t remember” the alleged abuse, which she only discovered in 2020.
Another of her lawyers said it was revealed outside court that watching the footage of her attack again had been “difficult, for her and for the whole family”, but “the trial starts today and the process must continue”.
They continued: “As for her mood, she’s already feeling relieved that the trial is in public and that she won’t be alone in court with her attackers for four months.
“So that’s some comfort. She’s also preparing, she knows her words will be scrutinized and will lead to cross-examination by the defense.
“She’s getting ready today, she wants to express herself and she’ll take her time when she’s asked to, and we expect that to happen very soon this week.”
Gisele told the court yesterday how she felt when she discovered the real cause of her physical and mental suffering.
She said: “I feel sick. I feel dirty, dirty, betrayed. There was a tsunami, I was hit by a high-speed train.”
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Caroline fears that her father may have drugged and raped her Credit: AFP
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Dominique is on trial in France
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP:
Women’s Aid has the following advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Learn about the silent solution, by reporting abuse without speaking into the handset, instead of dialing “55”.
- Always have some cash with you, including change for a payphone or bus ticket.
- If you suspect that your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a less risky part of the house – for example, where there is an exit and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where knives or other weapons are likely to be found. Avoid rooms where you could become trapped, such as a bathroom or where you could be locked in a closet or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, the SupportLine is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during a crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid offers a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am to 6pm and weekends from 10am to 6pm.
You can also call the free 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education