Vevey improvisation coach tried on appeal for sexual abuse of eleven complainants
An improvisation coach from Vevey, sentenced to four years in prison at first instance, appeared on Thursday before the Court of Appeal of the Vaud cantonal tribunal. Eleven former students maintain their accusations of sexual abuse.
Appeal trial for Vevey coach convicted of sexual abuse
The courtroom was again full on Thursday during the appeal hearing of the improvisation coach from Vevey, prosecuted for sexual abuse by around ten complainants. According to Le Temps, the same protagonists found themselves before new judges, this time before the Court of Appeal of the Vaud cantonal tribunal, a year after a first sensational conviction.
The facts examined date back to the 2010s, on the Vaud Riviera. José* — the first name has been changed — was then a theatre improvisation coach and hosted evenings with a restricted circle of young students. Eleven of them, who describe themselves as former students and "friends", maintained their accounts before the court.
A position of leadership exploited during alcohol-fuelled gatherings
According to the complainants, José occupied a dominant position within this group. He ensured alcohol was present, organised games with a strong sexual component and did not hear refusals. Those who left this circle — following a break-up, for example — were ostracised and described as "mad" or "nymphomaniacs".
The question of consent remains at the heart of the divergences between prosecution and defence. Among the acts found proven at first instance were touching committed whilst victims were asleep, non-consensual sexual acts or acts committed under the influence, as well as rape in the context of a secret relationship of several months with a girl aged sixteen, when José was twenty-three.
Four years in prison confirmed at first instance
The East Vaud tribunal had sentenced the defendant to four years' imprisonment, coupled with a lifelong ban from engaging in any activity involving minors. It is this judgment that the defence is contesting before the Court of Appeal.
During the hearing, the accused maintained his own reading of events. "There is their reality, and there is mine," he stated, summing up the line of defence he developed before the court. The divergences on the notion of consent — between the accounts of the eleven complainants and José's version — constitute the central issue of this appeal trial.
The decision of the Court of Appeal had not yet been delivered at the time of publication of this article by Le Temps.
*The first name has been changed for legal reasons.
Source: Le Temps