How Police Allegedly Caught Husband Accused of Drugging Wife and Inviting 83 Men to Rape Her

Authorities allege Dominique Pélicot's abuse lasted nearly a decade

A French man is accused of drugging his wife over the span of nearly a decade and inviting dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious.

Dominique Pèlicot, 71, is set to go on trial in Avingon, France, along with 50 other men, who he is accused of encouraging to rape his wife, Gisèle, 72, according to reports from The New York Times, UK newspaper The Times and Le Parisien.

Though 51 suspects are facing a trial in connection with the case, authorities have reportedly alleged Gisèle was raped by 83 different attackers, and was assaulted at least 92 times, The Times reported.

Evidence of the alleged rapes was discovered in 2020 when police seized Dominique’s phones, cameras and electronic devices after he was accused of having filmed up the skirts of three women in supermarkets, according to reports from the NYT and The Times.

Related: Husband's Case Goes to Trial as He's Accused of Drugging His Wife and Inviting Dozens of Men to Rape Her: Reports

When police searched the devices, they allegedly found 20,000 videos and photographs documenting the assaults, dating back to 2011, the NYT reported.

The Times reported that Dominique has since admitted to having drugged Gisèle with ground up sleeping pills that he put in her food and drinks.

Dominique’s lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, told The Times that her client was not contesting the charges, saying that he has “always declared himself guilty.”

The outlets reported that the accused husband would allegedly find and recruit the strangers — who ranged from ages 26 to 73 — online and would film some of the assaults.

Dominique and Gisèle, who are getting divorced, have been married for over 40 years and have three children and two grandchildren, per The Times. 

Gisèle has no memory of the attacks and was only informed about the abuse after police discovered it, NYT reported.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.          

According to her attorney Stéphane Babonneau, Gisèle reportedly wants the trial to be public.

“She wants to raise awareness, as widely as possible, of what happened to her so that events like these never happen again,” Babonneau told The Times. 

Both The Times and the NYT reported that authorities are also investigating Dominique in connection with the 1991 rape and murder of a woman and a 1991 attempted rape.

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.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.