Man Accused Of Drugging Wife And Watching 72 Men Rape Her

Trigger warning. This content contains graphic details regarding sexual assault.

Dominique Pélicot, a 71-year-old man from France, is currently facing nine charges for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting his wife over a decade in their home. According to authorities, Dominique also invited more than 70 male strangers to participate in these acts while his wife was unconscious, as reported by CNN.

On Sept. 2, Dominique appeared in court alongside his 72-year-old wife, Gisèle Pélicot, for the start of their trial. During this initial court appearance, he did not deny the accusations of sexually assaulting his long-time partner over the years.

“He recognizes that he’s done what he has done,” his lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro told journalists in court on Monday, according to CNN. “There was not an ounce of contestation during the whole investigation.”

The assaults date back to 2011, prosecutors say.

Prosecutors allege that the 71-year-old derived satisfaction from watching Gisèle engage in sexual activities with other men. To satisfy his desire, he would recruit men online to assault her after drugging her with sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medications. The horrible incidents lasted almost ten years, with the first alleged assaults dating back to 2011.

Police say Gisèle endured over 90 sexual assaults, many of which were allegedly filmed on camera and committed by nearly 72 men with ages ranging from 26 to 74. Fifty were identified, and most have been charged with either aggravated or attempted rape and are standing trial alongside Gisèle’s husband. Some of the alleged assailants were present in the courtroom on Monday, sitting with their heads down to avoid eye contact with Gisèle.

According to the BBC, many of the men charged in the case are disputing the rape allegations, arguing that they believed they were participating in a “consensual sex game.” However, during her testimony on Monday, Gisèle asserted that she was “never complicit” in these acts and was completely unaware of what was happening to her while she was unconscious.

Gisèle gave an emotional testimony.

The twisted sex crimes were uncovered in 2020 when Dominique was caught filming under women’s skirts at a shopping center, authorities say. “After police seized his phone and computer, they say they found evidence of the rapes. An investigation was opened and the wife was made aware of the abuse she had endured for almost ten years,” the BBC noted.

During her harrowing testimony, Gisèle recounted a distressing moment in November 2020 when police asked her to accompany her husband to an interview. The request followed his arrest for taking inappropriate photographs of women at a shopping center.

“The police officer asked me about my sex life,” she told the court. “I told him I had never practiced partner-swapping or threesomes. I said I was a one-man woman. I couldn’t bear any man’s hands on me other than my husband’s. But after an hour the officer said, ‘I am going to show you some things which you will not find pleasant.’ He opened a folder and he showed me a photograph.”

Gisèle Pélicot- Source: CHRISTOPHE SIMON / Getty

Gisèle said her entire world “fell apart” when the officer revealed a gut-wrenching image that captured her being sexually assaulted. “I did not recognize either the man or the woman asleep on the bed. The officer asked: ‘Madame, is this your bed and bedside table?’ It was hard to recognize myself dressed up in a way that was unfamiliar. Then he showed me a second photo and a third I asked him to stop. It was unbearable.”

Gisèle reflected that, prior to this event, their marriage had been largely positive, with both partners navigating various financial and health challenges together. She revealed that she had forgiven the upskirting incident after her husband assured her it was an isolated occurrence.

Now, Gisèle is pushing forward to receive justice for her assaults. She has “waived her right to anonymity to shift the ‘shame’ back onto the accused,” according to her legal team. During a following court date on Sept. 2, the brave 72-year-old took to the stand and said she was speaking for “every woman who’s been drugged without knowing it… so that no woman has to suffer.”

Dominique is facing nine charges, including multiple counts of aggravated rape, drugging a victim to facilitate rape, and distributing images related to these assaults.

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