Gisèle Pélicot Speaks Out After Rapist Husband Cries in Court During Sentencing

Mar. 15, 2025

Gisèle Pélicotis speaking out after her ex-husband wassentenced to 20 yearsin prison for drugging her and inviting dozens of men to rape her over the course of nearly a decade in their home in France.

According to the AP, Gisèle addressed the media after the sentencing, thanking those who publicly supported her during the trial of 51 men, including Dominique.

“Your messages moved me deeply, and they gave me the strength to come back, every day, and survive through these long daily hearings,” she said, per the outlet. “This trial was a very difficult ordeal.”

Gisèle Pélicot.CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP via Getty

Gisele Pelicot arrives at the Avignon courthouse for the trial of her former partner Dominique Pelicot accused of drugging her for nearly ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan, a small town in the south of France, in Avignon, on October 10, 2024. A court in the French southern town of Avignon is trying Dominique Pelicot, a 71-year-old retiree, for repeatedly raping and enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife in her own bed over a decade. Fifty other men, aged between 26 and 74, are also on trial for alleged involvement, in a case that has horrified France. The court proceedings, which runs until December, are open to the public at the request of Dominique Pelicot’s ex-wife and victim.

CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP via Getty

Retired electrician and estate agent Dominique was accused of inviting multiple men — including firefighters, masons, gardeners, prison guards, soldiers and journalists, now between the ages of 26 and 73 years old — to rape her while she was unconscious,Le Parisienpreviously reported.

Dominique has said he had been drugging Gisèle and filming the rapes for nearly a decade from 2011 to 2020, according to U.K. newspaperThe Times.

He alsoconfessed to his crimes, saying in court in September, “I am a rapist like the others in this room,” according to theBBCand French outletsLe ParisienandFrance 24.

According to the BBC, 15 of the 50 other defendants at the trial admitted to rape, while most just claimed they had participated in sexual acts.

Gisèle Pélicot.Christophe SIMON/getty

Gisele Pelicot (C) looks on, next to her lawyer Stephane Babonneau (R), at the Avignon courthouse during the trial of her former partner Dominique Pelicot accused of drugging her for nearly ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan, a small town in the south of France, in Avignon, on September 16, 2024. A court in the southern town of Avignon is trying Dominique Pelicot, a 71-year-old retiree, for repeatedly raping and enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife in her own bed over a decade. Fifty other men, aged between 26 and 74, are also on trial for alleged involvement, in a case that has horrified France. The court proceedings, which runs until December, are open to the public at the request of Dominique Pelicot’s ex-wife and victim

Christophe SIMON/getty

Dominique was arrested in December 2020 after police seized his electronics while investigating him for filming up the skirts of three women, prosecutors previously said.

The couple’s three children also appeared in court during the trial and described their “devastation” after learning about what their father had done, according toThe Guardian.

“I’ve lost 10 years of my life that I’ll never make up for,” Gisèle previously said in court, perThe Guardian. “This scar will never heal,” she said.

Dominique was also found guilty this week of the attempted aggravated rape of the wife of one of the other accused men — Jean-Pierre Marechal — taking indecent images of his daughter, Caroline Durain, and his daughters-in-law, Aurore and Celine, per the BBC.

The BBC reported that Dominique cried as the judge read out the sentence in court.

Gisèle, who waived her right to anonymity, also said Thursday that she pursued the case thinking of her children and grandchildren “because they are the future,” NBC News reports, citing its British news partner Sky News.

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In October, she told the court she had chosen to have an open trial so that “all women who [are] victims of rape can say to themselves ‘Madame Pélicot did it, we can do it.’ I don’t want them to feel ashamed anymore,” per French outletLe Monde.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.

source: people.com

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