Gisèle Pélicot Speaks Out After Rapist Husband Cries in Court During Sentencing

Gisèle Pélicot is speaking out after her ex-husband was sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging her and inviting dozens of men to rape her over the course of nearly a decade in their home in France.

Dominique Pélicot, 72, was found guilty by a jury in Avignon, France, of aggravated rape against his then-wife Gisèle, also 72, on Thursday, Dec. 19, according to multiple news outlets, including the BBC, Associated Press and NBC News. He was subsequently ordered to serve the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

According to the AP, Gisèle addressed the media after the sentencing, thanking those who publicly supported her during the trial of 51 men, including Dominique.

"Your messages moved me deeply, and they gave me the strength to come back, every day, and survive through these long daily hearings,” she said, per the outlet. “This trial was a very difficult ordeal.”

Related: Gisèle Pelicot’s Ex-Husband Found Guilty, Sentenced to 20 Years in Mass Rape Trial That Horrified the World

Retired electrician and estate agent Dominique was accused of inviting multiple men — including firefighters, masons, gardeners, prison guards, soldiers and journalists, now between the ages of 26 and 73 years old — to rape her while she was unconscious, Le Parisien previously reported.

Dominique has said he had been drugging Gisèle and filming the rapes for nearly a decade from 2011 to 2020, according to U.K. newspaper The Times.

He also confessed to his crimes, saying in court in September, "I am a rapist like the others in this room," according to the BBC and French outlets Le Parisien and France 24.

Related: Man Who Drugged Wife and Invited Dozens of Men to Rape Her Confesses to Crimes: ‘I am a Rapist’

According to the BBC, 15 of the 50 other defendants at the trial admitted to rape, while most just claimed they had participated in sexual acts.

Gisèle had no idea about the rapes until police told her after discovering thousands of photos and videos taken by her then-husband, who had documented the abuse after recruiting strangers on the internet, The New York Times reported, citing the investigating judge’s report.

Dominique was arrested in December 2020 after police seized his electronics while investigating him for filming up the skirts of three women, prosecutors previously said.

The couple’s three children also appeared in court during the trial and described their “devastation” after learning about what their father had done, according to The Guardian.

“I’ve lost 10 years of my life that I’ll never make up for," Gisèle previously said in court, per The Guardian. "This scar will never heal,” she said.

Related: Wife Allegedly Drugged by Husband So Dozens of Men Could Rape Her Calls Case a 'Trial of Cowardice'

Dominique was also found guilty this week of the attempted aggravated rape of the wife of one of the other accused men — Jean-Pierre Marechal — taking indecent images of his daughter, Caroline Durain, and his daughters-in-law, Aurore and Celine, per the BBC.

The BBC reported that Dominique cried as the judge read out the sentence in court.

Gisèle, who waived her right to anonymity, also said Thursday that she pursued the case thinking of her children and grandchildren “because they are the future,” NBC News reports, citing its British news partner Sky News.

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In October, she told the court she had chosen to have an open trial so that "all women who [are] victims of rape can say to themselves 'Madame Pélicot did it, we can do it.' I don't want them to feel ashamed anymore," per French outlet Le Monde.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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