French police release filmmaker, prepare to charge another over alleged sexual abuse
French authorities are preparing to press charges against a leading arthouse film director but released another one following day-long interrogations after a women actor accused them of sexual abuse, a source close to the case said Tuesday.
Benoit Jacquot, 77, will spend a second night in jail and be presented to a judge Wednesday morning as the next step before possibly charging him, the source said.
Jacques Doillon, 80, was released without charge, according to his lawyer Marie Dose.
Both men had spent Monday night at a Paris police station after being summoned for questioning that morning, and have denied all charges.
Jacquot's lawyer, Julia Minkowski, denounced a "wide range of dysfunctions of the justice system, due to extreme media exposure which has led to unacceptable excesses".
Their interrogation over the alleged abuse of much younger actors, including in the 1980s and in several instances when they were underage, comes amid claims by activists that French cinema has too long provided cover for abuse.
Investigators opened a probe after actor and director Judith Godreche, 52, earlier this year officially accused Jacquot of rape during a relationship with him that started when she was 14 and he was 25 years her senior.
She also filed a complaint against Doillon over sexual assault during a film shoot when she was 15.
"I'm crying," she wrote.
(AFP)
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