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AVIGNON, France (AP) — A 71-year-old French man acknowledged successful tribunal Tuesday that he drugged his then-wife and invited dozens of men to rape her complete astir a decade, arsenic good arsenic raping her himself.
He pleaded pinch her, and their 3 children, for forgiveness.
“Today I support that, on pinch nan different men here, I americium a rapist,″ Dominique Pélicot told nan court. “They knew everything. They can’t opportunity otherwise.”
Dominique Pélicot’s grounds is nan astir important infinitesimal truthful acold successful a proceedings that has shocked and gripped nan country, and raised caller consciousness astir intersexual violence. Many besides dream his grounds will shed immoderate ray — to effort to understand nan unthinkable.
While he antecedently confessed to investigators, nan tribunal grounds will beryllium important for nan sheet of judges to determine connected nan destiny of immoderate 50 different men opinionated proceedings alongside him. Many contradict having raped Gisèle Pélicot, saying they were manipulated by her then-husband aliases claiming they believed she was consenting.
Gisèle Pélicot has go a awesome of nan fight against intersexual violence successful France for agreeing to waive her anonymity successful nan case, letting nan proceedings beryllium public, and appearing openly successful beforehand of nan media. She is expected to speak successful tribunal aft her ex-husband’s grounds connected Tuesday.
Under French law, nan proceedings wrong nan courtroom cannot beryllium filmed aliases photographed. Dominique Pélicot is brought to nan tribunal done a typical entranceway inaccessible for nan media, because he and immoderate different defendants are being held successful custody during nan trial. Defendants who are not successful custody travel to nan proceedings wearing surgical masks aliases hoods to debar having their faces filmed aliases photographed.
After days of uncertainty owed to his aesculapian state, Dominique Pélicot appeared successful tribunal Tuesday and told judges he acknowledged each nan charges against him.
His much-awaited grounds was delayed by days aft he fell ill, suffering from a kidney chromatic and urinary infection, his lawyers said.
Seated successful a wheelchair, Pélicot said to nan tribunal for an hour, from his early life to years of maltreatment against his now ex-wife.
Expressing remorse, his sound trembling and astatine times hardly audible, he sought to explicate events that he said scarred his puerility and planted nan seed of vice successful him.
“One is not calved a pervert, 1 becomes a pervert,” Pélicot told judges, aft recounting, sometimes successful tears, being raped by a antheral caregiver successful infirmary erstwhile he was 9 years aged and past being forced to return portion successful a pack rape astatine property 14.
Pélicot besides said of nan trauma endured erstwhile his parents took a young woman successful nan family, and witnessing his father’s inappropriate behaviour toward her.
“My begetter utilized to do nan aforesaid point pinch nan small girl,″ he said. “After my father’s death, my relative said that men utilized to travel to our house.”
At 14, he said, he asked his mother if he could time off nan house, but “she didn’t fto me.”
“I don’t really want to talk astir this, I americium conscionable ashamed of my father. In nan end, I didn’t do immoderate better,″ he said.
Asked astir his feelings toward his wife, Pélicot said she did not merit what he did.
“From my youth, I retrieve only shocks and traumas, forgotten partially acknowledgment to her. She did not merit this, I admit it,” he said successful tears.
At that moment, Gisèle Pélicot, opinionated crossed nan room, facing him crossed a group of dozens of defendants sitting successful betwixt them, put her sunglasses backmost on.
Later, Dominique Pélicot said, “I was crazy astir her. She replaced everything. I ruined everything.”
A information supplier caught Pélicot successful 2020 filming videos nether women’s skirts successful a supermarket, according to tribunal documents. Police searched Pélicot’s location and physics devices, and recovered thousands of photos and videos of men engaging successful intersexual acts pinch Gisèle Pélicot while she appears to dishonesty unconscious connected their bed.
With nan recordings, constabulary were capable to way down a mostly of nan 72 suspects they were seeking.
Gisèle Pélicot and her hubby of 50 years had 3 children. When they retired, nan mates near nan Paris region to move into a location successful Mazan, a mini municipality successful Provence.
When constabulary officers called her successful for questioning successful precocious 2020, she initially told them her hubby was “a awesome guy,″ according to ineligible documents. They past showed her immoderate photos. She near her hubby and they are now divorced.
He faces 20 years successful situation if convicted. Besides Pélicot, 50 different men, aged 26 to 74, are opinionated trial.
Bernadette Tessonière, a 69-year-old retiree who lives a half-hour thrust from Avignon, wherever nan proceedings is taking place, arrived extracurricular nan courthouse astatine 7:15 a.m. to make judge she would unafraid a spot successful nan intimately watched case.
“How is it imaginable that successful 50 years of communal life, 1 tin unrecorded adjacent to personification who hides his life truthful well? This is scary,” she said, while opinionated successful a statement extracurricular nan courthouse. “I don’t person overmuch dream that what he did tin beryllium explained, but he is astatine slightest going to springiness immoderate elements.”
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