French banker convicted to 25 years in prison for torturing and raping his partner over seven years
Guillaume Bucci, a 51-year-old banker, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by the assize court of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in Digne-les-Bains for subjecting his partner to seven years of violence, rape and torture. The victim was forced to have sexual relations with nearly 500 men.
French banker convicted to 25 years in prison for torturing and raping his partner over seven years
The assize court of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in Digne-les-Bains has sentenced Guillaume Bucci, a 51-year-old banker, to 25 years in prison. The man was tried for subjecting his partner, Laetitia R., aged 42, to seven years of physical and psychological violence, rape and torture between 2015 and 2020.
During the trial, shocking details were revealed. The victim testified that she had been forced by her partner into humiliating sexual acts with nearly 500 men in total. "I stopped counting when they were 487," she declared before the court. Among these men were acquaintances of the couple as well as strangers.
Laetitia was inspired by the case of Gisèle Pelicot, another French woman who denounced her husband's actions after more than a decade of suffering, to break her silence and recount her ordeal.
Bucci acknowledged several facts, notably the beatings, strangulation and burns from cigarettes. However, he claimed that his partner had "given her consent" to all these practices, including relations with other men, and stated that he did not think he had "ever hurt her".
The victim described how her husband treated her like a "slave", using blackmail and psychoactive substances to control her. "Progressively, I had the feeling of dying inside. With each behaviour that was imposed on me, a part of me broke permanently," she confided.
One of the most traumatic episodes occurred the day after her discharge from hospital following the birth of their daughter. On that occasion, Guillaume forced her to have sexual intercourse with a lorry driver.
Many messages exchanged between the spouses were presented to the court. In these exchanges, Bucci regularly threatened his partner with death or taking away the custody of their children if she refused to obey.
The public prosecutor had requested a life sentence, highlighting the high risk of reoffending. The court ultimately opted for a sentence of 25 years in prison, with the possibility for the convicted person to request conditional release after having served two-thirds of his sentence.
Source: Google News PL