Speaking from the dock, Salim B. asserted that he had always been "a great sentimentalist." This was not the side of his personality that the women who stared at him from the front rows of the courtroom had experienced. They weren't all there, but a substantial number of the 17 women who lodged complaints against this slender 38-year-old man sporting an Afro haircut, thin glasses, a small mustache, and dubbed the "Tinder rapist," had, on Monday, March 18, come to the opening of his trial at the Paris Criminal Court.

Thirteen have accused him of rape, and four of sexual assault. The events they have denounced date from September 2014 to October 2016, when he was arrested. These women, who are now in their thirties or thereabouts, and who were then aspiring young actresses or models seeking to build up their portfolio, all gave the police almost identical accounts of their encounters with Salim B., an aspiring fashion photographer: Flattering words on dating sites; an invitation to a photoshoot at his home; the alcoholic drink that they didn't always dare refuse; the second drink; the strangely quick and powerful intoxication – hair analyses of over half of the plaintiffs showed traces of suspicious drugs or medication –; their host's abrupt change of attitude; his verbal insistence, psychological pressure, and sometimes physical violence to get what he wanted; his indifference after he'd had his satisfaction; and their shock.

The young women – one of whom was under 18 when they first made contact – had all consented, according to the defendant, who was willing to acknowledge a "moral fault, that of having used them for his own pleasure and then having rejected them," but no criminal offense. In his view, as he had repeated during the investigation, the plaintiffs were willing to go further, as his invitation had mentioned the prospect of consuming alcohol. "This concept, according to which a young woman who agrees to drink would thereby consent to acts of a sexual nature, can only leave one perplexed," noted the case's investigating judge in his indictment order.

When questioned by the investigators, Salim B. had mentioned a "sex addiction." Standing in his glass-walled cubicle, he corrected himself: "When I spoke of sex addiction, I had no hindsight. I have no addiction to sex. The addiction I have is an addiction to the act of seduction." A few nervous laughs broke out among the plaintiffs. "I get the impression that not everyone agrees," said the judge, Thierry Fusina, ironically. "What I liked was to create a new story, new things," persisted the defendant, undaunted. "It wasn't the sexual intercourse in itself."

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