French filmmakers accused by actress of immoral acts, arrested and questioned in Paris

French filmmakers Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon accused by the actress Judith Godrèche and other artists of sexual violence, They were arrested on Monday for questioning by the Brigade for the Protection of Minorssources close to the case told AFP.

Both men, who deny the accusations, presented themselves at the Regional Directorate of the Judicial Police (DRPJ) in Paris, France, accompanied by their lawyers, an AFP journalist reported.

Jacquot “will finally be able to speak out in court,” said his lawyer Julia Minkowski, who criticised the fact that her client was arrested after being taken to police custody. “The option should have been to conduct a free-form interrogation,” he added.

Marie Dosé, Jacques Doillon’s lawyer, said that “no legal criteria justify this measure” of detention, especially considering the antiquity of the facts reported by Judith Godrèche, which date back 36 years and have been subject to the statute of limitations for more than two decades.

Both lawyers denounced the violation of their clients’ presumption of innocence.

The arrests could lead to confrontations between the directors and some of the actresses who accuse them, including Godrèche, according to sources close to the case.

In February, The 52-year-old actress first publicly accused Benoît Jacquot of rape and then to Jacques Doillon of sexual assault, and filed the corresponding complaints with the courts.

The Paris prosecutor’s investigation is focused on alleged crimes including rape of a minor under 15 by a person in authority, rape, domestic violence and sexual assault of a minor under 15 by a person in authority.

Jacquot and Godrèche began their relationship in the spring of 1986, when she was 14, and they lived together openly until their separation in 1992, even buying an apartment in Paris.

Godrèche described the relationship as one of “domination” and “perversion.”

The actress’s parents agreed to give her legal emancipation to continue their relationship, which was known in the media and in the world of cinema.

Two other actresses have denounced Jacquot: Julia Roy for sexual assault, and Isild le Besco at the end of May for rape of a minor under 15 and rape, allegedly occurring between 1998 and 2007.