Dominique Pelicot, the 71-year-old man accused of drugging his wife to sleep and recruiting dozens of men to abuse her for over 10 years, has admitted to all the charges against him in his first testimony since the trial opened on 2 September.
Referring to the 50 co-defendants who are accused of raping his now ex-wife Gisèle, Mr Pelicot said: “I am a rapist like the others in this room.”
“They all knew, they cannot say the contrary,” he said.
Of his ex-wife, he said: “She did not deserve this.”
“I was very happy with her,” he told the court.
Gisèle, who was given the chance to respond shortly after, said: “It is difficult for me to listen to this. For 50 years, I lived with a man who I would’ve never imagined could be capable of this. I trusted him completely.”
Mr Pelicot, who is a father and grandfather, told the court of traumatic childhood experiences and said he was abused by a male nurse when he was nine years old.
When asked about his marriage to Gisèle, Mr Pelicot said he considered suicide when he found out she was having an affair. He said he wanted to crash his car into a row of trees, but lacked the courage. “Maybe I should have,” he added.
Mr Pelicot also expanded on his feelings for Gisèle, who he said he was “crazy about… I loved her immensely, and I still do.”
“I loved her well for 40 years and badly for 10,” he added, apparently referring to the decade during which he drugged her and abused her.
He was also asked about the thousands of videos he took of men abusing his unconscious wife. These were found by investigators and were instrumental in tracking down the 50 men who are now accused of rape.
