A pensioner in France is said to have drugged his wife and had her abused by strangers. The man confessed in court – and incriminated the 50 co-defendants.
Avignon – In the trial of the years-long abuse of a woman drugged by her husband by dozens of strange men, the main defendant in southern France has made a comprehensive confession. “I am a rapist, like everyone else in this room. They (the other defendants) cannot claim the opposite,” said the 72-year-old in court in Avignon.
“Mr. President, I admit the allegations in their entirety,” the pensioner said in his first eagerly awaited statement on the outrageous accusations that have rocked France since the trial began two weeks ago.
The husband is said to have repeatedly drugged his now divorced wife over a period of almost ten years. He is then said to have had the woman raped in front of his eyes by strange men with whom he had previously made contact via an online platform. The 50 accused alleged perpetrators and the husband face up to 20 years in prison for the abuse.
His 71-year-old ex-wife Gisèle P. insisted that the trial be held in public and serve as a warning example for women who are drugged and then abused. The main defendant addressed his ex-wife and family during his testimony. “I am guilty for what I did,” said the pensioner. “I regret what I did, I ask for forgiveness, even if it is inexcusable.”
Filming under skirts exposed main perpetrator
The alleged abuse only came to light when the pensioner was arrested after filming under the skirts of supermarket customers. During a search, investigators found hundreds of videos of the crimes on the man’s computer.
But what drives a man to commit the crimes he is accused of? In court, the main defendant spoke of being abused in hospital as a child and of having witnessed the abuse of an adopted sister by his father. “You can’t say that my life was unaffected by it.” He was a sex addict and there were two sides to his personality. “I tried in vain to stop, but the addiction was stronger,” he says. “I should have stopped much earlier or never started at all.”
The impetus to drug and abuse his wife is said to have come from an acquaintance on an internet forum who pretended to be a nurse and gave him the necessary dosage of medication, says the defendant. A lawyer wants to know from the defendant when he became perverted: “When I met this man in 2011, who showed me things that I thought were impossible and which he made possible.”
Pensioner did not collect any money from accomplices
The pensioner is said not to have asked for money from the men he invited to his place; according to the prosecution, he was only interested in satisfying his sexual fantasies. The men sought contact with him of their own free will and followed his script. “I didn’t force anyone, they came themselves.”
The sensational court case has long since sparked a nationwide debate in France about sexual violence against women and the problem of the abuse of women who have been drugged. At the weekend, there were demonstrations in several cities against sexual violence and as a sign of solidarity with Gisèle P. Dozens of people also lined up in the courtroom in Avignon and applauded as the woman left the building. dpa
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