Avignon, (EFE).– French prosecutors on Monday sought a 20-year prison sentence against Dominique Pelicot who is accused of organizing dozens of men to rape his drugged and unconscious wife.
Prosecutors described Pelicot, 71, as a manipulative and perverse person driven by his egocentric desires, with no regard for his victim’s consent.
Prosecutor Laure Chabaud of the Avignon Court of Appeal said Pelicot repeatedly violated his wife’s autonomy and consent to fulfill his desires.
Chabaud said 20 years is a long time yet “not enough considering the serious nature of these acts.”
“There are many examples in history of criminals capable of presenting themselves in a charming light and who at the same time are capable of the worst atrocities. Dominique Pelicot fits this bill,” Chabaud said.
“He suffers from no mental illness, so he is fully responsible for the acts he committed. We must ask ourselves about the future, which appears relatively bleak. His is considered incredibly dangerous.”
Pelicot, who has itted to the crimes, took thousands of photos and videos documenting the assaults. These materials serve as key evidence against him and the 51 co-accused men, who sexually abused the unconscious woman.
Most of the men have denied the charges, claiming they believed the victim had consented.
However, prosecutor François Mayet refuted these claims, emphasizing that the victim, Gisèle Pelicot, was reduced to an object. “Consent was absent both before and during the acts.”
He highlighted the 20,000 visual files that depict the “extreme violence of the crimes.”
In an initial statement, Pelicot’s lawyer, Isabelle Zavarro, said she expected prosecutors seeking the maximum sentence.
However, she criticized the depiction of the defendant, hinting at plans to invoke his history of alleged abuse during childhood and adolescence as part of his defense.
The abuse reportedly occurred from July 2011 to October 2020, first in the Paris region and later at the couple’s home in Mazan, near Avignon, after they retired.
Pelicot is accused of ing men through an online platform, inviting them to his home, and istering large doses of sedatives to render his wife unconscious.
The case came to light in September 2020 when Pelicot was arrested for filming under women’s skirts in a Carpentras supermarket. Investigators discovered thousands of videos and photos of the assaults during a search of his computer.
Pelicot is also implicated in two other cases of gender violence, one involving the 1991 rape and murder of a woman and another for an attempted rape involving a bladed weapon in 1999. EFE
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