Frenchman charged with mass abuse of wife admits he's a rapist, seeks forgiveness

The Star

Dominique Pelicot, the Frenchman accused of drugging his wife and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her over nearly a decade, has admitted to the charges.  “I admit to the charges in their entirety. I'm a rapist and I ask my wife, children and grandchildren to accept my apologies,” he said in court on Tuesday (Sept 17).  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00Dominique Pellicot, the Frenchman accused of drugging his then-wife and recruiting strangers

00:05to rape her, has admitted to all the charges.

00:09The 71-year-old accused said in the court hearing on Tuesday that he is a rapist and

00:14he regrets what he did.

00:16He pleaded for the forgiveness of his family.

00:20Pellicot had been due to testify last week in the case that has shocked France, but his

00:25appearance was delayed due to health issues.

00:29He told the court that he had a difficult upbringing and had been a victim of rape himself.

00:35The 72-year-old victim, Giselle Pellicot, told the court that for 50 years she had lived

00:41with a man who she would never have imagined was capable of the act of rape.

00:59The accused faces charges including rape, gang rape and privacy breaches by recording

01:19and disseminating sexual images.

01:22Prosecutors said the accused offered sex with the victim on a website and filmed the abuse.

01:28The trial also involves 50 other men who are facing the rape charges.

01:33The offences allegedly took place from 2011 to 2020.

01:38Some defendants said they believed the victim was pretending to be asleep and consented

01:42to sex, though Pellicot disputed that assertion in court.

01:47If found guilty, the defendants face up to 20 years in jail.

01:52The case has sparked widespread rallies against sexual violence in France.

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