The captured Monster of Avignon lashes out at his accomplices and insists ‘this chapter is closed’ as 17 men appeal their sentences for taking part in the mass rape of Gisele Pelicot

Dominique Pelicot, the Avignon monster, has taken out his rape accomplices who joined him in attacking his wife, Gisele Pelicot, over the course of a decade.

Dominique, 72, laced his wife’s food and drink with sedatives to knock her out. He then invited strangers he met online to participate in sordid rape and abuse fantasies that he performed and filmed with them at the couple’s retirement home in the small town of Mazan in Provence and elsewhere.

Gisele Pelicot, 72, has become a symbol of female courage and resilience during the three-month trial of her now ex-husband and his 50 co-defendants, in a case that has horrified the world. All were found guilty by the court on December 19.

Dominique will not join the 17 of his 50 co-defendants who are appealing against their sentences.

Through his lawyer, he attacked his co-defendants for this, claiming it would be a ‘new ordeal’ for his ex-wife.

“He decided not to appeal because he says it would be a new test and new confrontations for his wife, whom he always said in the debates that she was not his opponent,” said Beatrice Zavarro, lawyer for Dominique Pelicot , on FranceInfo Radio.

Dominique Pelicot, who was married to Gisele for 50 years, pleaded guilty and the five-judge panel imposed the maximum sentence on him as requested by prosecutors.

The court found 46 of the other defendants guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault, imposing sentences of three to fifteen years in prison, less than the four to eighteen years sought by the prosecution.

Dominique (pictured, right) laced his wife Gisele’s (pictured) food and drinks with sedatives to render her unconscious. He then invited strangers he met online to participate in dirty rape and abuse fantasies that he carried out with them.

Seventeen have so far said they will appeal, and the others have until midnight Monday to decide.

They come from all walks of life: truck drivers, soldiers, firefighters, security guards, farm workers, a supermarket worker, a journalist and the unemployed.

Many of the accused had denied the allegations, saying they believed it was a consensual sex game orchestrated by the couple, and argued that it was not rape if the husband consented.

Dominique denied misleading the men, whom he met online, and said they knew exactly what they were doing.

The trial has led to protest rallies across France in support of Gisele, and “soul searching”, including a debate over whether France’s rape law should be updated, which currently does not specify that sex must imply consent.

One of the sex attackers was met by an angry crowd as he tried to leave the court after the verdicts were handed down.

Gisele Pelicot’s daughter, Caroline Darian, arrives at the courthouse of Avignon, southern France, on Thursday, December 19, 2024

Gisele Pelicot leaves the courthouse surrounded by French police and journalists after the trial verdict on December 19

Gisele’s bravery during the painful trial and her horrific ordeal, inflicted on the retired energy company worker in what she thought was a loving marriage, galvanized campaigners and led to calls for tougher measures to eradicate rape culture.

She waived her right to anonymity as a sexual abuse survivor and successfully pushed for the hearings and the shocking evidence – including her ex-husband’s home-made videos of the rapes – to be heard in open court, with she insisted that the shame should fall on her abusers, not her shoulders. her.

Gisele Pelicot said she was not afraid of a new trial, her lawyer said earlier this month.

‘She’s not afraid. “If it were to happen, she has already told us that she would make it – if she is in good health of course, because she is 72 today,” her lawyer said.