By Catherine Porter
Finally, the man at the heart of a rape trial that has stunned France and captured global attention took the stand.
Dominique Pelicot shared how his wife had rescued him from a childhood marked by a sexual assault he claims he endured at a hospital when he was 9, and a gang rape he observed while training as an electrician during his teenage years. He expressed his deep affection for her.
“She didn’t deserve this, I admit,” he said, weeping from the witness stand, his voice so faint that the court had to strain to hear him.
“I regret my actions and seek forgiveness, even if it’s inexcusable,” he later stated, addressing his ex-wife, Gisèle Pelicot, who stood in the center of the courtroom, looking directly at him as he spoke.
Dominique Pelicot, 71, faces allegations of drugging Gisèle Pelicot, 71, his spouse of 50 years, for nearly a decade to sexually assault her while she was unconscious. Authorities claim he then invited many men to their residence to join him in these assaults.
Approximately 51 men, including Pelicot, are collectively on trial, primarily for the aggravated rape of Gisèle Pelicot. One defendant has pleaded guilty for similarly drugging his spouse to assault her and inviting Dominique Pelicot to take part.
Pelicot’s testimony on Tuesday was unexpected. Just a week into the trial, he fell seriously ill and was absent for four days, leading the presiding judge to eventually postpone the session. Pelicot was diagnosed with kidney stones, a kidney infection, and prostate issues.
Following an assessment by medical professionals on Monday, the Avignon court’s chief judge, Roger Arata, deemed Pelicot fit to attend — with an adjusted approach that included regular breaks and a comfortable chair.
The accused populate the courtroom benches. Eighteen of them are positioned in two glass enclosures — one specifically constructed for the trial. The remaining accused arrive daily, most donning medical masks, hoods pulled over their heads, and baseball caps to conceal their identities.
They represent a cross-section of the working and middle-class rural demographic of France, ranging in age from 26 to 74; among them are truck drivers, soldiers, a nurse, an IT specialist, and a journalist. The majority are accused of going to the retired couple’s home in Mazan and assaulting Gisèle Pelicot once. A few are charged with returning to assault her multiple times.
Over a dozen have admitted guilt, including Dominique Pelicot. However, the attorneys for many others argue that their clients did not intend to violate Gisèle Pelicot. Lawyers for several have claimed they were deceived into believing they were partaking in a sexual encounter with consenting adults and that she was merely pretending to be asleep.
In recent weeks, many of the more than 40 attorneys involved have portrayed Dominique Pelicot as a skilled manipulator — orchestrating the sexual encounters like a director, enticing the men, deceiving them, and spurring them on.
“Without the intent to commit it, there is no rape,” Guillaume De Palma, a lawyer representing six of the accused, stated last week in court. “My clients were completely misled, deceived, and ensnared by Mr. Pelicot.”
Now, finally testifying, Pelicot responded to these claims.
“Today I admit that I am a rapist, just like those present here,” he declared, dressed in a gray jacket fully zipped up. “They were all aware of her condition before they arrived; they knew everything. They cannot claim otherwise.”
Prosecutors constructed the case following Pelicot’s arrest in September 2020 for filming under the skirts of women in a grocery store. Authorities confiscated his electronic devices and a laptop from his home, uncovering an initial collection of videos and images, which led to his arrest that November for the wider offenses.
Ultimately, police found over 20,000 videos and photos on Pelicot’s computers and hard drives, many dated and labeled, in a folder titled “abuse.” Some of these videos are expected to be presented in court as evidence.
When explaining why he filmed the videos, edited them into a vast digital library, and labeled them all, Pelicot remarked: “Partly for pleasure, but also as a form of insurance. Because of this, we could identify all those who participated.”
Gisèle Pelicot, who has divorced her husband and no longer uses her former surname but has chosen to use it in court during the proceedings, had the right under French law to remain unidentified and have the case heard privately. Instead, she made the relatively uncommon choice to request a public trial.
Her lawyers stated that she aimed to shift the stigma onto the accused and hoped her story would resonate with and help other victims of drugging and assault.
During her own poignant testimony, Pelicot referred to her former husband as the love of her life. They met at 19, quickly building a life together, raising three children and later having seven grandchildren who visited often. She expressed that she had no idea she had been drugged or assaulted, especially by the man she trusted the most.
On Tuesday, she recounted to the court how painful it was to hear Dominique Pelicot’s statements, having lived together for five decades, and that she “could never have anticipated for a moment he could commit these acts of rape.”
“I had complete trust in this man,” she said.
Nevertheless, she had experienced troubling symptoms for many years that caused her to fear she had a brain tumor or was developing Alzheimer’s: hair and weight loss, alongside significant memory lapses with entire days and nights lost to darkness.
Due to her decision to testify openly, she has emerged as a feminist symbol and beacon for sexual assault survivors in France. Over the weekend, thousands of women rallied in support of her at various events across the country.
As she entered the courtroom on Monday, Pelicot paused briefly to acknowledge the show of support.
“Thanks to all of you, I have the strength to continue this fight until the end,” she addressed a throng of cameras and microphones. She conveyed a message to sexual violence victims worldwide.
“Look around you,” she proclaimed. “You are not alone.”
