Dominique Pelicot—who admitted to drugging his ex-wife Gisele multiple times over a decade and inviting strangers from the internet to rape her when she was unconscious—was sentenced by a French court to 20 years in jail, while dozens of other men were also handed prison terms in a landmark mass rape case that shocked the country.
Gisele Pelicot, who was drugged by her now former husband so that he and others could assault her, ... [+]
Dominique Pelicot received the maximum sentence of 20 years after the court found him guilty of aggravated rape of Gisele, attempting to rape the wife of another man convicted in the case, and distributing images of his wife, daughter, Caroline, and daughters-in-law, Aurore and Celine, without their consent or knowledge.
According to Le Monde, the 72-year-old will have to serve at least two-thirds of his sentence and his name will be added to France’s national sex offenders register.
The court also convicted all fifty other defendants, with them receiving prison sentences between 15 and three years.
Aside from Pelicot, the court found 46 other defendants guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault.
One of the convicted men, Jean-Pierre Marechal, who admitted to following Pelicot’s actions by drugging his own wife for five years and inviting Pelicot to rape her, was sentenced to 12 years.
The defendants have 10 days to challenge the verdict and Pelicot’s lawyer said he is considering an appeal.
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