Man accused of recruiting dozens of strangers to rape drugged wife is among "worst sexual criminals," daughter testifies
Date: September 6, 2024 Time: 11:43 AM EDT Source: CBS/AFP
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The daughter of a retired French man who is currently on trial for convincing strangers to assault his wife while she was drugged, stated that he is possibly one of the most heinous sexual offenders in the last two decades.
Dominique Pelicot, aged 71, has confessed to harming his wife without her awareness from 2011 to 2020. He would give her sleeping pills and then arrange for many individuals she did not know to assault her in their residence.
"How can we possibly recover when we are aware of his actions?" questioned his daughter, known as Caroline Darian, a 45-year-old who writes under a pseudonym. She made these remarks during the fifth day of the trial in Avignon, a city in the south of France, shocking the nation.
Pelicot carefully documented the mistreatment of his wife, but it was only by coincidence that the police found this information when they caught him secretly recording under women's skirts in a store.
In the blog post, Gisele Pelicot, 71, shared her struggle with memory issues and revealed that during her divorce proceedings she discovered that her husband, Dominique Pelicot, had been giving her strong tranquilizers such as Temesta without her knowledge.
Addressing the court on Friday morning, their daughter Darian shared how she found out about the reported abuse on November 2, 2020 from her mother, who had previously spoken with investigators.
Darian shared that their life was completely changed. Their mother revealed a shocking experience of being drugged by their father and assaulted by strangers, leading her to spend hours at the police station. The mother recounted having to confront disturbing photos of the assault.
She described it as a point of no return, the beginning of a gradual decline into a terrible situation with no end in sight. She cried as she recounted how she reached out to her siblings, unsure of what was happening to them.
Darian left the room crying during the second day of the trial on Tuesday, when the judge mentioned that naked photos of her had been found on Dominique Pelicot's computer in a folder labeled "Around my daughter, naked."
In 2022, Darian authored a book titled "And I Stopped Calling You Dad," discussing how the family was impacted by the shocking revelation of the crimes.
Victim Wants Public Trial
Gisele Pelicot asked for her husband's trial to be held in public so that more people could learn about the problem of using drugs to commit sexual assault.
The situation in France has caused a lot of excitement, with many people discussing it and some even sharing supposed lists of the people involved on the internet.
Gisele Pelicot and her family expressed gratitude to the public for their support through their legal representatives on Friday. They also requested that people exercise caution on social media during the ongoing court proceedings.
"Our clients fully recognize that this situation is a heartbreaking event for all families involved, including the families of the accused," stated Antoine Camus, one of them.
Paul-Roger Gontard, the attorney representing two of the individuals facing charges, commended the decision for safeguarding the families of his clients and other individuals who may ultimately be cleared of any wrongdoing.
One individual has started a crowdfunding effort to help support the family.
Gisele Pelicot does not want any fundraising efforts to be started and is asking for any ongoing campaigns to be stopped, as stated by her lawyers Camus and Stephane Babonneau.
"I Wanted To Vanish"
In the blog post, Gisele Pelicot shared on Thursday that she believed the police had rescued her from danger by revealing the crimes.
She told the court that the police had saved her life by looking into Mister P.'s computer. Mister P. is her husband.
According to the BBC, she said that before the crimes were discovered, she and her husband were seen as a "perfect couple." They had managed to overcome various challenges related to money and health. However, everything took a turn once the crimes were revealed.
"I wanted to vanish completely. But I had to inform my children that their father had been taken into custody. I requested my son-in-law to support my daughter as I revealed to her that her father had sexually assaulted me, and arranged for me to be assaulted by others," she recounted. "She let out a scream that I can still vividly hear in my memory."
The researchers documented approximately 200 cases of sexual assault, with the majority being perpetrated by Gisele Pelicot's spouse and over 90 committed by unknown individuals.
Investigators have compiled a list of 72 possible suspects in addition to the husband. They have been able to identify 50 of these individuals, who range in age from 26 to 74, and are currently undergoing trial.
Gisele Pelicot stated on Thursday that she was able to identify just one of the men who allegedly raped her. This man had initially visited her home to talk about cycling with her husband and later she would see him frequently at the bakery.
Many of the accused individuals could potentially be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison if found guilty of aggravated rape.
Out of the 51 people charged, 18 are currently in jail, with one of them being Dominique Pelicot. 32 others are attending the trial as individuals who are not in custody. The final accused is being tried in their absence.
The court case is predicted to continue until December 20.
