Gisele Pelicot’s children have hit out at the ‘low’ sentences for some of the men who raped their mother, with one of the perpetrators set to be free in just five years.
The children of Dominique Pelicot, who was sentenced to 20 years on Thursday for orchestrating and committing the mass rape of his now ex-wife, believe the verdicts handed down by a French court to the guilty men in the case were too low.
Pelicot’s children reacted angrily as some of the sentences were read out, deploring ‘it’s not possible’ as one convicted rapist was handed just five years.
Firefighters, soldiers, lorry drivers, a DJ and a journalist were among those found guilty of raping and sexually abusing 72-year-old Gisele at the behest of her husband over the course of a decade – all without her knowledge.
The 51 men faced a combined sentence of 600 years ahead of the jail terms being handed down today. They will serve just a fraction of this – with a collective sentence of 400 years given out by the panel of five judges.
Defendants cowered behind masks and beneath hoods as they entered the court this morning, with several emerging again this afternoon after being given sentences equivalent to or less than those they have already served.
‘The children are disappointed by these low sentences,’ said the family member after the verdict, asking not be identified.
Madame Pelicot later emerged from the courtroom to the waiting cameras of the world’s media, saying she was ’emotional’ as she issued a statement after what she said had been ‘a very difficult test for me.’
Gisele Pelicot leaves the courthouse after hearing the verdict that sentenced her ex-husband to the maximum term of 20 years in jail
The children of Dominique Pelicot believe the verdicts handed down by a French court to the guilty men in the case were too low. Pictured: Pelicot’s children Caroline, Darian, and, David
The only defendant likely to receive the maximum sentence of 20 years is Pelicot himself, who has been dubbed ‘The Monster of Avignon’
Crowds of journalists and members of the public gathered at the entrance of the courthouse in Avignon and Gisele Pelicot arrived this morning
Women gather in support of Gisele Pelicot outside the Avignon courthouse on November 27
Police had to protect the man hiding behind a face mask and hood from angry protesters jeering at him
While the men who raped Pelicot have been sentenced it has been revealed that as many as ten defendants are considering appealing the ruling, The Times reports.
Under French law, defendants have an automatic right to force a retrial through right of appeal.
Defence attorney Christophe Bruschi, who represented Joseph Cocco, a 69-year-old man who was handed three years in jail after being found guilty of sexual assault, gloated that his client had ‘walked free’ having already served his sentence.
Shocking footage shows the lawyer laughing at the protesters, labelling them ‘a bunch of hysterical knitters’ and taunting them by saying ‘my client has a message for you – the message is s***’.
He went on to say: ‘Your request for 20-year prison sentences for all the defendants has been refused. My client has walked free… He thanks you and says, ‘Up yours!”
Bruschi had smiled as he left the court, and told the waiting journalists: ‘I don’t want to provoke anybody when I walk past. I have individuals who are shouting. We may all be a bit provocative sometimes, aren’t we?
‘But when it comes to these debates I’ve listened and asked questions,’ he insisted.
Brushci’s client Cocco, a pensioner and among the oldest of the defendants in the notorious trial, was prosecuted for ‘sexual assault in a group’ and not for rape or attempted rape.
‘It was difficult to get an erection,’ he said in his defence during the trial, adding that he stayed at the Pelicots’ home for 10 minutes and then left.
‘Had I known what he was doing to his wife I would have reported him. This is atrocious,’ he said.
Found guilty of sexual assault, he has been sentenced to three years in prison, which he has already served awaiting trial.
Bruschi launched a bizarre rant as he was confronted by protesters, saying he had a message from his client and swearing at them
One of the defendant arrives at the courthouse in Avignon on December 19, 2024, after being booed by crowds outside
One accomplice was seen hanging his head in shame as he walked into the court
One of the sex attackers was met by a furious crowd when he was trying to leave the court after the verdicts were handed down
Gisele Pelicot (R) sits beside her daughter Caroline Darian (C) and her son (L) at the courthouse during the trial, pictured on September 2
The Pelicot home in the village of Mazan, now known as the house of horrors
He was just one of the dozens of men invited by Dominique Pelicot to rape his unconscious wife at their home in Mazan, southern France – all without her knowledge.
Judges have also found Pelicot guilty of recording and illegally broadcasting images of his wife and of recording images of three other women.
Police found some 20,000 lurid images and videos of Pelicot’s wife being abused in files on his computer, as well as pictures of his daughter and his two daughters-in-law naked.
His daughter Caroline Darian yelled at him as his sentence was delivered: ‘You will die alone like a dog in jail!’ She has directed the phrase at her cowering father, who the family has condemned, throughout the trial.
Speaking outside court after the sentences were handed down, Pelicot’s lawyer Beatrice Zavarro said her client was ‘stunned’ at the judges’ decision to hand him the maximum sentence, as well as the suggestion that he could be kept in longer if he was still considered a security threat.
Maitre Zavarro said that no decision had yet been made on whether Pelicot will lodge an appeal, which he is able to do for the next ten days.
She said she will not criticise any decision made by the courts. Asked how her client is reacting, she said he is ‘showing the same attitude as he has done throughout [the trial].’
Gisele Pelicot speaks during the trial of her husband with 50 co-accused at the courthouse in Avignon
Florian Pelicot, the youngest of the Pelicots’ three children, arrives at the courthouse in Avignon to hear the verdict in his father’s trial
Caroline Darian and David Pelicot, the children of Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, the victim of an alleged mass rape orchestrated by her then-husband Dominique Pelicot, arrive to witness the verdict in the trial for Dominique Pelicot and 50 co-accused
Some 180 journalists from across France and the globe queued outside the Avignon Criminal Court before dawn this morning to hear the verdicts
Pelicot and his legal team will consider whether or not to appeal, she said, concluding in her comments: ‘We are going to take the 10 days to digest this and he is going to think about his future.’
Gisele Pelicot arrived at the courthouse in Avignon with her lawyers early this morning to see the verdicts delivered in the case, which has lasted more than three months.
Her three children, sons David and Florian and daughter Caroline, arrived moments before her as they prepared to see their father and his accomplices served justice.
Each of the defendants was allowed to bring one relative into the court to learn their fate. One woman was seen breaking down in tears as she kissed her partner – probably for the last time for several years.
The trial – which has gathered international attention – has gripped France and the world since its outset in September.
Some 180 journalists from across France and the globe queued outside the Avignon Criminal Court before dawn this morning to hear the verdicts.
Feminist campaigners protesting in the street outside the courthouse waved placards demanding ‘Christmas in jail’ and ‘Easter behind bars’ for Pelicot and the other defendants.
Dominque Pelicot (pictured) drugged his ex wife Gisele and invited dozens of men to rape her while he watched and filmed them over a decade long period of hell
Dominique Pelicot is seen arriving at court in the back of a police car earlier this week
Mme Pelicot looked at each of the defendants as their verdicts were read out. This court sketch depicts her looking at her husband
Pelicot’s lawyer Beatrice Zavarro said her client was ‘stunned’ at the judges’ decision to hand him the maximum sentence
This court-sketch depicts Gisele Pelicot during the hearing of the verdicts
David Pelicot, one of Gisele’s two sons, is seen giving a thumbs up as he takes a phone call outside the courthouse after his father was given the maximum sentence of 20 years in jail
Supporters of Mme Pelicot have welcomed her with flowers, applause and words of encouragement throughout the more than three month trial, with the mother-of-three breaking into a smile as she was cheered by the crowds gathered outside the courthouse this morning.
People were heard crying: ‘Justice for Gisele!’ and sang protest songs calling for women to ‘rise up against male violence’.
Just moments earlier her alleged rapists had run the gauntlet to enter the courthouse with their faces covered.
Other defendants – including primary defendant Pelicot – were brought to the court in prison vans with sirens blaring across the medieval city.
The trial galvanized campaigners against sexual violence and spurred calls for tougher measures to stamp out rape culture.
The defendants were all accused of having taken part in Dominique Pelicot’s sordid rape and abuse fantasies that were acted out in the couple’s retirement home in the small Provence town of Mazan and elsewhere.
Dominique Pelicot testified that he hid tranquilizers in food and drink that he gave his then wife, knocking her out so profoundly that he could do what he wanted to her for hours.
A man holds placards which read ‘Stop violence against women’ and ‘Justice for Gisele Pelicot’ as journalists queue to enter inside the courthouse before the verdict in the trial for Dominique Pelicot
A large banner that campaigners hung on a city wall opposite the courthouse read, ‘MERCI GISELE’ – thank you Gisele
Two women hold placards reading ‘thank you Gisele’ in support of the French grandmother
One of the men was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment not for assaulting Gisele Pelicot but for drugging and raping his own wife – with help and drugs from Dominique Pelicot, who was also found guilty of raping that man’s wife, too.
The five judges voted by secret ballot in their rulings, with majority votes for the convictions and sentences.
Campaigners against sexual violence were hoping for exemplary prison terms and viewed the trial as a possible turning point in the fight against sexual violence and the use of drugs to subdue victims.
Gisele Pelicot’s courage in waiving her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse and successfully pushing for the hearings and shocking evidence – including videos – to be heard in open court have fueled conversations both on a national level in France and among families, couples and groups of friends about how to better protect women and the role that men can play in pursuing that goal.
‘Men are starting to talk to women – their girlfriends, mothers and friends – in ways they hadn’t before,’ said Fanny Foures, 48, who joined other women from the feminist group Les Amazones in gluing messages of support for Gisele Pelicot on walls around Avignon before the verdict.
‘It was awkward at first, but now real dialogues are happening,’ she said.
‘Some women are realizing, maybe for the first time, that their ex-husbands violated them, or that someone close to them committed abuse,’ Foures added. ‘And men are starting to reckon with their own behavior or complicity – things they’ve ignored or failed to act on. It’s heavy, but it’s creating change.’
A large banner that campaigners hung on a city wall opposite the courthouse read, ‘MERCI GISELE’ – thank you Gisele.
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