Dominique Pelicot has been jailed for 20 years for drugging his then wife and inviting men to rape her β and 50 men were found guilty alongside him. Warning: this article contains descriptions of rape and sexual assault. On Thursday, at the culmination of a months-long trial in the southern French city of Avignon, they were convicted and received sentences of between three and 15 years.
The 50 men convicted of rape and assault alongside Dominique Pelicot are aged between 26 and They include a nurse, a journalist, a prison warden, a councillor, a soldier, lorry drivers and farm workers. Most lived in south-eastern France within a mile 60km radius of Mazan. Six had previous convictions for domestic violence, and two had convictions for sexual violence. A total of 23 had a criminal record for offences such as drunk-driving and possession of drugs.
Others denied the charge of rape, saying they had believed they were taking part in a game by the couple. The case was heard by a panel of five professional judges and ran until 19 December, when the verdicts and sentences were announced.
He said he had been sexually frustrated in his relationship and had gone on to the online chatroom to console himself. Delville detailed a violent childhood at the hands of his alcoholic father, who he said would wait outside school with a meat cleaver to attack him and threaten him. After a brutal public beating by his father outside school, Delville was placed into care as a teenager.
On Thursday, Rodriguez was found guilty of rape and sentenced to eight years in prison. A former fire officer who had worked as a truck driver and then owned a pizzeria, Cubeau had been married for 25 years and had two children.
