Twenty-five year sentence upheld: former banker abandons appeal against sexual violence conviction
A 51-year-old man, tried for inflicting extreme abuse on his former partner over seven years, has decided to accept the 25-year prison sentence handed down by the assizes court in Digne.
Twenty-five year sentence upheld: former banker abandons appeal against sexual violence conviction
Guillaume Bucci, 51, a former manager of a bank branch, is allowing the deadline to appeal against the severe sentence passed against him to pass. His lawyer, Arnaud Lucien, announced on Tuesday 2 June, via a statement sent to franceinfo, that he "intends to accept the sentence".
On 23 May, the assizes court of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence had sentenced him to a quarter century of imprisonment for aggravated rape, torture and acts of barbarism against Laëtitia, with whom he had maintained a relationship for seven years.
Throughout the proceedings, the defendant had sought to downplay the offences by characterising them as sadomasochistic games accepted by the victim. The jury rejected this line of defence. The atrocities committed included recurring physical violence, a humiliating permanent mark, burn injuries, attempted strangulation, as well as bestiality and scatological practices. The accused himself had admitted to virtually all of these acts.
Moreover, he had forced his partner to prostitute herself to other men in exchange for payment. The complainant estimated the number of people involved in these imposed sexual relations at approximately five hundred.
In his statement, the counsel highlighted that his client had expressed "sincere" apologies to the civil parties, and that he had undertaken personal reflection as well as a process of "reconstruction".
By abandoning his right to appeal, Bucci renders the sentence of 25 years of criminal imprisonment final.
Source: franceinfo
Source: France Info