Man who imitated French rapist says he deserves punishment

AVIGNON: A man who learned from the French to drug and rape his own wife admits he recruited dozens of strangers to sexually abuse his partner and said on September 18 that he deserves a harsh punishment.

“I'm in prison and I deserve it,” the 63-year-old said outside the court in Avignon, where the trial for the mass rape that shocked France is taking place.

“What I did is horrific. I am a criminal and a rapist,” said the tall man with the crew cut, who was being sedated by Dominique Pelicot.

Pelicot, 71, admitted to giving his then-wife Gisele tranquilizers to render her unconscious so he and dozens of strangers could rape her for nearly a decade.

“What I did is terrible and I want a harsh punishment,” said his co-defendant, who is only named as Jean-Pierre M.

Jean-Pierre M is the only one not accused of abusing Ms Gisele Pelicot. 49 other co-defendants are accused of participating in the abuse, which lasted from 2011 to 2020.

Instead, he was accused of raping his own wife and allowing Pelicot to rape her after the two met online.

I love my wife

The man stated in court that he had been abused by his father as a child.

“My childhood consisted only of shame, alcohol, sex and a lot of silence,” he said in court.

“We experienced terrible things from my father, sexual abuse.” He described how he was forced to have oral sex with his father so that he and his sister could go fishing with him.

He said when his sister cried, he agreed to do it. “I was used to it,” he said.

“My mother tried to protect us, but she was drinking,” he added.

The co-defendant said he had lived a “happy life” with his wife since he met her at the age of 33. She also told the court last week that it had been a happy marriage.

“I love my wife,” he said.

Jean-Pierre M. is accused of having raped or attempted to rape his wife twelve times; Pelicot is said to have been involved in ten of these rapes.

He lived about 50 kilometers from the Pelicots, where the main defendant is accused of repeatedly abusing his own wife in the southern city of Mazan.

Gisele Pelicot, now 71 and divorced from her husband, has become a feminist icon since she demanded that the trial be public to raise awareness of drug abuse. AFP