Pau: former police officer convicted of sexual assault and drug-facilitated incapacitation
A former anti-crime squad officer poured wheel-cleaning product into his wife's glass before sexually assaulting her. The court sentenced him to 16 months in prison.
A cleaning product diverted into an incapacitating substance
Pau criminal court sentenced a 58-year-old man on Monday to 16 months in prison for sexual assault and drug-facilitated incapacitation committed against his wife. According to sudouest.fr, the defendant had poured GBL — a substance present in an automotive wheel cleaner — into his companion's glass during an aperitif, before sexually assaulting her.
The man, who worked as a police officer in the anti-crime squad until 2025, had discovered online the properties of GBL, a molecule whose effects at low doses are comparable to GHB, a product used by rapists. The couple had been married since 2022 and lived in Salies-de-Béarn. The victim filed a complaint on 14 October.
A context of previous violence
This was not the first time the defendant had exercised violence against his wife. In 2023, he had made death threats against her; his weapons were then removed from him. The court president, Marie-Gabrielle Viché, enumerated other incidents: refusal to allow his wife to see his daughter from a previous relationship, physical violence directed at her, repeated intimidation. The man, who was irascible, would strike walls and doors to assert his strength.
The victim had considered leaving the home but had remained. Two months before the trial, she had requested a divorce.
The evening of the assault
During this fateful aperitif, the victim felt the effects of the product very quickly. "I don't know what came over me. I had the terrible idea of pouring this unfortunate product into her drink. But I regretted it before, during and after," the defendant declared during the trial. He claimed to have attempted to limit the effects by preparing her a meal, but the victim fell asleep under the substance's effects.
Upon waking, she discovered her husband had access to her intimate areas and suspects digital rape. She subsequently recorded a conversation with him in which he declared: "I caressed you to make you want it so stop with this". He invoked "the rights and obligations of marriage" to justify his act.
The prosecutor's submission
Prosecutor Jean-François Dobeli rejected these justifications forcefully. "The right of the master does not exist, no longer exists," he stated forcefully. He highlighted the irony of the case: the defendant, during his police career, had certainly been confronted with cases of battered and abused women. He requested 16 months in prison, of which 8 to be served.
The defence lawyer argued for "the deterioration of the couple" and mentioned his client's isolation, a chief warrant officer on sick leave for severe depression. He requested a non-custodial sentence to allow the defendant to pay his debts to his ex-wife and to pay child support.
The conviction
The court sentenced him to 16 months in prison, of which 12 with probation suspended. In addition to four months to be served, he must undergo treatment and is prohibited from all contact with the victim for three years. He will not be able to carry weapons for the same period. He has also been entered into the register of perpetrators of sexual offences.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)