A French Court Gave Dominique Pelicot the Maximum Sentence — He May Die in Prison

The trial of Dominique Pelicot, along with 50 co-defendants, will undoubtedly be talked about in France and the world over for quite some time. The 72-year-old father of three was found guilty of aggravated rape of his ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot, attempted aggravated rape of the wife of one of the co-accused, and taking indecent images of his daughter and two daughters-in-law, reported the BBC. Details of the crimes committed by Dominique are truly the stuff of nightmares.

If it weren't for an intrepid supermarket security guard catching Dominique taking upskirt videos of women in late 2020, he might have continued with his appalling activities. The 51 men found guilty of charges ranging from sexual assault to rape will be behind bars for quite some time. As the leader of this horrendous sexual assault ring, Dominique was handed the harshest punishment. Although he received the maximum sentence, many feel like it's not enough.

Dominique will be spending 20 years in prison after a French court threw the biggest book possible at him. The trial began in September 2024, almost exactly four years after he was arrested, and included testimony from Gisèle herself. When Dominique took the stand, he confessed to drugging his then-wife using a homemade cocktail of sedatives. He then recruited men he met in online forums with promises of raping an unconscious woman. The abuse occurred between 2011 and 2020 and was often filmed.

Gisèle recalled how she felt in November 2011 when she couldn't seem to keep her eyes open. Despite wanting to spend her weekends out doing activities with Dominique, she found herself nodding off and waking up hours later with no memory of falling asleep, reported the BBC. A year before that, Dominique had been spending a lot of time online discussing some rather upsetting sexual fantasies with strangers in chatrooms. Things took a turn when he encountered a man who claimed to be a nurse.

This alleged nurse sent Dominique photos of his own wife, who he claimed had been drugged using sleeping pills. He then told Dominique exactly how he could do the same thing to Gisèle. For the next three years, Dominique would knock his wife out, then do all of the things he said she never allowed him to do. Whether it was sexual positions or wearing certain types of lingerie, Dominique could act out whatever fantasy he wanted.

After the couple had retired in 2014 and moved to Mazan, a small village in France, Dominique decided to "expand his operation." Using a chatroom called "without her knowledge," he found men of all ages and backgrounds to sexually assault or rape Gisèle. During the trial, these men claimed they were under the impression this was a game being played by the couple. They told the court that they thought they had Gisèle's consent. The court did not believe them.

When Gisèle chose to waive her anonymity during the trial, it was seen as a powerful act of bravery. She even requested that some of the videos of her abuse be played during the trial, so she could look into the eyes of the men involved. Since discovering what had been happening to her, their family removed all traces of Dominique from their lives.