One of France's most prominent TV journalists has been charged with rape, the prosecutor's office has said, following a string of accusations of sexual abuse at the height of his career. It is the first time that former prime-time news presenter Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, 76, has been charged.
Poivre d'Arvor was charged on Monday, December 18, with raping writer Florence Porcel in 2009, the prosecutor's office said late Tuesday. Porcel, 40, has accused him of forcing her to have sex with him in 2004 and perform oral sex in 2009. The prosecutor's office said he was still under investigation over the alleged 2004 incident. French prosecutors launched an initial inquiry in 2021 then dropped it several months later, but Porcel filed a new complaint, leading to the charge on Monday.
The journalist's lawyers in a statement said he "firmly contested the allegations made by Porcel as he has done since the first day." The lawyers, Jacqueline Laffont and Julie Benedetti, noted that prosecutors recommended dropping the case, but the investigating judges filed the charge anyway.
Some 22 women have also come forward to accuse the television personality of rape, as well as sexual assault and harassment. Another probe is looking into these allegations.
Women who have accused him welcomed the indictment "We're overjoyed by this decision, both for Florence Porcel... and all the women who have taken part in the judicial proceedings," #MeTooMedia, a group founded by three women who have accused him, said on X, formerly Twitter, late Tuesday.
One of them, Marie-Laure Eude Delattre, told Agence France-Presse it was "extraordinary progress", even if all was not won. Delattre in 2021 filed a complaint against Poivre d'Arvor, accusing him of raping her as a 23-year-old intern at the Cannes Film Festival in 1985.
"Finally," said journalist Hélène Devynck, who has accused him of raping her when she was his assistant in 1993, but whose complaint was thrown out because of a statute of limitations.
Poivre d'Arvor was the star presenter of French TV network TF1's evening newscast between 1987 and 2008, making him one of the most famous people in France, where he is widely known as just "PPDA." An author, he also used to anchor a prestigious TV literary program.
Soon after Porcel’s complaint, Poivre d'Arvor acknowledged in an interview with TV channel TMC "small kisses in the neck, sometimes small compliments or sometimes some charm or seduction" – acts he said younger generations no longer accepted.
Poivre d'Arvor denies wrongdoing, and has sued 16 of his accusers.