THE sons of a Frenchman accused of allowing multiple strangers to rape his own wife after drugging her are set to take the stand today.
Dominique Pélicot, 71, and 51 other men face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty following a trial at Vaucluse Criminal Court, in Avignon.
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His daughter, Caroline Darian, 46, already spoke in court and described her father as “one of the greatest sexual predators” in recent years.
Caroline was herself secretly photographed in the nude by her father, as were her two sister-in-laws while taking a bath, it emerged in court.
She also revealed the shocking moment her mum first told her of the harrowing ordeal.
And now, Pélicot’s sons Florian and are reportedly set to take the stand at their dad’s trial today.
And now, Pélicot’s sons Florian and David are reportedly set to take the stand at their dad’s trial today.
The court case has been shocking France over the past week after Gisele Pélicot, 72, waived her legal right to anonymity last Monday at the opening of her husband Dominique’s trial.
Asked to confirm his name and address at the start of proceedings, Pélicot said: “My home is prison, you know it”.
The husband allegedly invited the men he met online to assault his wife Gisele after slipping an anxiety medication into her food to knock her out.
He is said to have then filmed the horrid attacks over nine years between 2011 and 2020.
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And before bravely facing her husband at trial, Gisele was shown the horror videos to prepare her for what would be shown in court.
Gisele told the court how she felt when she discovered the real cause of her physical and mental torment.
She said: “He disgusts me. I feel dirty, defiled, betrayed. It was a tsunami, I was hit by a high-speed train.”
On Friday, daughter Caroline spoke in court as she slammed her dad Dominique Pélicot for tearing their “perfect” family apart after the sick accusations came to light.
She is convinced that – like her mother – she was routinely drugged so that her father could defile her.
The photos taken of her were in a file entitled “Around my daughter, naked”, and apparently showed her asleep.
A tearful Caroline recalled seeing the two images for the first time, detailing what The Sun has deemed too disturbing to publish.
She said: “I did not recognise myself, but the police officer pointed out a brown spot on her cheek, like mine.
“There, I discovered myself and I understood that the man who was my father, in whom I had total confidence, who I thought had integrity, who respected his daughter, who was proud of her, who had always encouraged her, I discovered that in fact, my father had photographed me without my knowledge, naked.”
Caroline added: “How do you rebuild yourself from the ashes, when your father is undoubtedly one of the greatest sexual predators of recent years?”
The 46-year-old was followed into the witnesses box by her sister-in-law, Céline Pélicot, a mother of three young children.
Céline who is also in her 40s, said police confirmed to her that there were nude photos of her in the bath, along with similar images of another sister-in-law.
She asked the court: “Where will these photos be when I’m dead?
“These degrading, humiliating shots were taken in the most intimate room.
“Who did he [Dominique Pélicot] send them to? Where are they? Where will they be in five years, in ten years, when I’m dead?
“Will my children one day come across them. Why did he look at me like that?”
As the women gave their evidence, Dominique Pélicot, a retired electrician, started forward impassively.
He remains in custody after being arrested in 2020.
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Police found images on Pélicot’s camera and laptop that showed multiple alleged rapes of his wife between 2011 and 2020.
Wife Gisele Pélicott, who has sat in court throughout the five days, has already described the moment Caroline found out about the allegations that her husband had drugged her before organising the rapes.
She said: “When I told my daughter, she screamed like a wild beast. I will never forget this.
“When I told my sons about this, I don’t think they really understood, they were withdrawn and didn’t react much. I think they were in a state of shock. They said don’t say such silly things.
“That evening, the children rang all the time saying don’t disappear – they were worried I might die.”
Dominique Pélicot was first caught in September 2020, when he was arrested for secretely filming up women’s skirts at a supermarket in Carpentras.
His devices were searched, and there were hundreds of photos and pornographic videos of women, including family members.
It was while in custody that Pélicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer, which contained a file called Abuses.
It classified the nickname and telephone numbers of attackers, together with some 3,800 photos and videos of Gisèle Pélicot being raped, between 2011 and 2020.
Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified.
Pélicot moved his family from greater Paris in 1991, and later allegedly set up the sex ring.
It involved advertising on a site for “partners” on an online forum called ‘Without Her Knowing’ on the coco.fr site.
Of the 83 men involved, 51 aged between 26 and 73 were identified and arrested by the police.
Pélicot is said to have sedated his wife by putting a powerful anxiolytic drug into her dinner.
Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.
In a separate case, Pélicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991.
He has admitted one attempted rape in 1999, after DNA testing proved a case against him.
The Avignon aggravated rape case continues, and is due to last until December 21.
Fourteen of the other defendants have admitted rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing.
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP:
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
