Man who raped Gisele Pelicot after meeting her ‘Monster of Avignon’ husband online tells court he ‘immediately regretted it and wanted to erase it from my memory’
A former prison guard who guarded the Monster of Avignon while in custody has become the last man to testify in the shock rape trial.
Quentin Hennebert, 34, worked at the prison where Dominique Pelicot, 71, was held after he was arrested for upskirting in 2020, before quitting and becoming an ambulance driver.
Pelicot is accused of drugging his ex-wife Gisele and inviting dozens of men to rape her as he watched them through a decade-long period of hell in a case that has made headlines around the world.
Earlier this week, she bravely took a stand and waived her anonymity to lend her support to other rape victims, telling them: ‘We don’t have to be ashamed, it’s them who need to be ashamed.’
Hennebert told the court in Avignon that he had joined the swinging site Coco.fr – where Pelicot recruited men to abuse Ms Pelicot – to ‘sell ecstasy and MDMA’, adding: ‘I am not proud of myself. ‘
Earlier this week, Gisele Pelicot bravely took the stand and waived her anonymity to lend her support to other rape victims, telling them: ‘We don’t have to be ashamed, it’s them who should be ashamed’
Quentin Hennebert told the court in Avignon that he had joined swinging site Coco.fr – where Dominque Pelicot recruited men to abuse his wife
Dominque Pelicot (pictured) is accused of drugging his ex-wife Gisele and inviting dozens of men to rape her as he watched and filmed them during a decade-long period of hell.
He said: ‘I bought the drugs for €300 and was able to resell them for three to four times the price.’
The court heard how Hennebert had visited the Pelicot family home in the village of Mazan in November 2019 while he was working at the prison and 10 months before Pelicot was arrested.
He said: ‘In my work I am shown court papers, police investigative material and I saw Pelicot’s name come up.
‘I made the connection with what had happened and I thought that sooner or later the police would come to my door. I haven’t really had any rest since I saw the name.’
At that point the prosecutor interrupted him and asked, “So you were at peace when you left the Pelicot’s house?”
Hennebert, who has admitted to the rape, replied: ‘When I got in my car afterwards I realized I had made a big mistake and I just wanted to erase it from my memory.’
Ms Pelicot’s lawyer, Stephane Barbonneau, said: ‘She is an exceptional woman and we have heard from her how determined she is to have her story heard.
A court drawing of Ms Pelicot at the Avignon courthouse, during the trial of her former partner accused of drugging her for almost a decade and inviting strangers to rape her in their home in Mazan
Before the trial, Ms Pelicot’s lawyer, Stephane Barbonneau, said: ‘She is an exceptional woman and we have heard from her how determined she is to have her story heard.
‘Every day of this trial we see how deep a problem runs in society and what she wants to do is ensure that all victims are not forgotten.
‘She expects nothing from the people on trial and cannot accept their excuses.’
He added that some suspects’ defense that it was “accidental rape” was “inaudible to society.”