Initially, Jérôme B. and Cyril F. were indistinguishable from the dozens of men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was drugged by her husband. Like the others, they both regularly consulted the Coco.fr website and looked at the photos published in the chatrooms, including the one called "Without her knowledge." Like the others, they contacted Dominique Pelicot, first through the website, then by telephone. Like them again, they received nude photos of Gisèle Pelicot, and in exchange sent photos of their faces and genitalia. And, like all the other men, they had a file named after them, "jérome37ans" and "cyril43ans," on Dominique Pelicot's computer, which scrupulously archived the videos of the men who had raped his wife in the town of Mazan. The big difference was that their files were empty. Arrested, placed in police custody, searched and presented to the investigating judge, they always claimed not to have acted on Dominique Pelicot's proposal to "offer" them his wife, and were not charged.
On Tuesday, October 8, Jérôme B. and Cyril F. were called to testify before the criminal court in Avignon as witnesses. The first, a married trucker, struggled to get his stocky body into the witness box. He said he had consulted the chatrooms on the Coco.fr website under the username Jéjé84, "out of curiosity, to see photos. I'm just a fantasist." He recounted his first exchanges with Dominique Pelicot on the site. "He offered me gardening work and... and... in fact, as a means of payment, he offered me his wife. But I was looking for work to make ends meet. Not to be paid in sex."
Jérôme B. nevertheless gave Dominique Pelicot his telephone number and received photos, including one "of a lady lying on her stomach. We could only see her back and butt," and agreed to send two of himself "because [Dominique Pelicot] asked me to," he said. The conversation between the two men continued. "I asked several questions about how it all happened. He told me he gave his wife a pill to relax her. The pill, I thought that was weird, and didn't follow up."
'A woman isn't for sale'
In his statement to investigators, Dominique Pelicot had claimed that Jérôme B. had come to Mazan to have a sexual relationship with his wife. "No, not at all," replied the truck driver calmly. "As far as I'm concerned, a woman isn't for sale. She's not an object. Just because I go to sites that are a bit... well... doesn't mean I don't respect women." He added, fumbling for words, "The pill, that can, that can... alter your judgment."
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