“I am a rapist”: Frenchman admits drugging and gang rape of his ex-wife

Dominique Pelicot has admitted drugging his ex-wife and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her over a period of nearly a decade and is asking his family for forgiveness.

The 71-year-old’s hearing on Tuesday, the centerpiece of one of the most spectacular criminal trials in France’s recent history, had to be postponed last week due to health reasons.

He faces several charges, including rape, gang rape and invasion of privacy through the recording and distribution of sexual images.

Pelicot appeared in court Tuesday morning with a cane and spoke to the judge through a microphone with his lawyer. He said he had taken strong medication and was allowed to take breaks from lying down throughout the day.

“I am a rapist, just like everyone else in this room,” he said, adding: “I ask my wife, my children and my grandchildren to accept my apology. I regret what I did. I ask for forgiveness, even if it is not forgivable.”

The case shocked the country and sparked nationwide protests in support of his wife Gisele, who has become a symbol in the fight against sexual violence in France.

Pelicot told the court that he had a difficult childhood and was himself a victim of rape; he broke down in tears during his testimony.

He said he wanted his wife to participate in partner swapping and her refusal to do so, as well as trauma from his youth, helped trigger his abusive behavior.

“It became a perversion, an addiction,” he said in court.

Pelicot, who filmed the attacks to protect himself against the men involved, said he had become a victim of blackmail as a result of his activities.

Gisele Pelicot was in the courtroom and wore sunglasses during her ex-husband’s appearance. When she left the courtroom during the breaks, she was greeted with applause from the audience.

She had insisted on a public trial to expose her ex-husband and the other men accused of raping her.

“For 50 years I lived with a man I never thought was capable of such rape,” she said.

Gisele Pelicot initiated divorce proceedings after meeting with investigators about the case.

Prosecutors have said Dominique Pelicot, who was initially arrested after filming up a woman’s skirt in a supermarket, offered sex with his then-wife on a website called Coco and filmed the abuse.

In addition to Pelicot, 50 other men aged between 26 and 74 are on trial for rape in the southern French city of Avignon. Pelicot said a total of 72 men were involved in the abuse of his then wife.

While some of the defendants admitted their guilt to investigators, others said they believed they were living out a couple’s fantasy and that Gisele Pelicot had actually consented to the sex.

A court document states that investigators found 300 photos and a video of the crimes and filed them in folders, one of which was titled “Abuse.”

Gisele Pelicot told investigators that she was suffering from memory lapses and had visited a gynecologist because of unexplained pain.

The trial is expected to last until December. If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison.