One of the defendants in the trial in France for raping Gisele Pelicot He acknowledged on Thursday that he realized “at a certain point” that there was “a problem” while He was having sex with this woman in an unconscious state.
Before the court in Avignon, in the south of France, Lionel R., 44, quickly confirmed that acknowledged the facts of rape committed on December 2, 2018.
“Yes. I never intended to [de violarla]”But since I never obtained Mrs. Pelicot’s consent, I can only confirm the facts,” said the short-haired man, dressed in a black shirt and trousers.
The woman’s now ex-husband, Dominique Pelicotacknowledged during the media trial that began on September 2 that He administered anxiolytics to put her to sleep, raped her and had dozens of men rape her between 2011 and 2020.
Lionel R., who practiced partner swapping, explained that the main defendant proposed to him through the controversial libertine site Coco.fr “something a little original”, referring to relations with Gisèle Pelicot.
“It’s about drugs. One time she takes them, another time he gives them to her. It’s not very clear, but I’m convinced it’s a game, so I don’t even question it. It never occurred to me that she didn’t know about it. That was my first big mistake,” he recalled.
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“There were elements that suggested that this was not the case. He had sent me photos of Mrs. Pelicot naked in her garden“That made me think, wrongly, that it was a fantasy of the couple,” he added.
When he arrives at the couple’s home, he enters the room where the woman is lying, unconscious, and penetrates her.
“I do what he tells me. He is very bossy. I don’t make excuses. (…) At one point, she moves around a lot, he tells me to go away and I realize there is a problem,” said the accused, a father of three children.
Shortly before, the Avignon court questioned him about his personality and his life.
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“I can’t compare myself to Mrs. Pelicot. I think no one can imagine the nightmare he lived and still lives. (…) But my life also fell apart,” said the salesman, who after spending a year in preventive detention, got divorced.
The 51 defendants in the trial face sentences of up to 20 years in prison.