Lyon: fifteen years imprisonment for sexual assailant inspired by Pelicot case
A 39-year-old man has been sentenced to fifteen years of imprisonment for drugging his partner in order to sexually abuse her, after denying the facts throughout the investigation.
Lyon: fifteen years imprisonment for sexual assailant inspired by Pelicot case
The assises court in Lyon imposed a fifteen-year prison sentence on a 39-year-old former security guard, found guilty of rape and sexual assault against his former partner. The verdict was delivered following a two-day hearing, during which the defendant eventually admitted to facts he had long denied.
Over three years of investigation, the accused had presented nine contradictory accounts to investigators. On the first day of the trial, he still maintained his innocence. It was only the following day, after the psychologist had given evidence, that he spoke from the dock. Wearing a white shirt, he then admitted to having given his partner tablets to put her in an altered state and sexually abuse her.
He described filmed scenes in which he used a sex object on the unconscious victim whilst masturbating. He also admitted to committing other degrading acts, such as introducing his semen into a cosmetics pot belonging to the woman. Further video excerpts shown to the jury demonstrated the accused soiling his victim's toothbrush by rubbing it against the toilet. A night-time sequence, recorded using a hidden camera, captured intercourse where only the man's voice was audible — which the complainant's lawyer interpreted as an additional rape.
The representative of the victim's interests, Julia Studient, contested the defendant's minimising version of events. Analysis of the complainant's hair revealed the presence of sedative substances over an extended period, incompatible with only two administrations. "How do you expect us to believe you?" she said to the defendant, recalling his multiple successive versions.
The psychological evaluation ordered by the court established that the victim suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the practitioner, the young woman is now "terrified" at the idea of starting a new romantic relationship. She nevertheless estimated that viewing the recordings could help her come to terms with the reality of the facts she suffered.
The public prosecutor, Michel Guedes, praised the complainant's courage and sought a sentence of twelve years imprisonment coupled with six years of probation supervision. He described the defendant as a "disciple of Pelicot", highlighting his communications with Dominique Pelicot — convicted of rapes of his wife Gisèle — and the implementation of similar methods. The civil party denounced a "commodification" of the victim, reduced to the status of a "sexual accessory".
The defence lawyer attempted to argue his client's state of distress at the time of the facts, whilst admitting it had taken him two years to make him understand the notion of consent. He pleaded for a sentence lower than the prosecution's request, arguing that "everyone is entitled to a second chance".
Shortly before 8:30 p.m., the jury decided on a sentence of fifteen years imprisonment.
Source: Google News LU FR