The prosecutor’s office justified the demands to the court with aggravating circumstances. How many times did the defendants come to Pellicot’s house, did they touch Giselle Pellicot sexually, and did they penetrate her.
Joseph See, 69, a retired athletic trainer and beloved grandfather, faces four years in prison for sexual assault if convicted. This is the most lenient sentence requested by the prosecutor’s office.
At the other end of the scale is 63-year-old Romain V, who faces 18 years in prison. He was known to be HIV-positive, but he is accused of raping Giselle Pellicot on six separate occasions without protection.
Prosecutors were able to go into this level of detail because, unusually for a rape trial, there is a staggering amount of evidence, such as the alleged attacks have been filmed for nearly a decade by Dominique Pellico.
He admitted all the charges against him and told the court that all 50 of his co-accused were also guilty.
All of the video evidence means that none of the men could deny ever going to the Pellicott home. But most strongly contest the aggravated rape charges, which would carry serious sentences.
France’s rape law defines rape as any sexual act committed by “violence, coercion, threat or surprise”; it makes no reference to the need for consent.
Therefore, they also argue that they cannot be guilty of rape because they did not know that Giselle Pellico could not have given consent.
“There can be no crime without the intention to commit it,” said one of the lawyers.
“My body raped her, but my brain didn’t,” volunteer firefighter Christian L. insisted, exemplifying the convoluted reasoning of some men.
The only person among the 50 who is not accused of raping Giselle Pellicot is 63-year-old Jean-Pierre M, who was nicknamed the “disciple” of Dominique Pellicot.
After learning how to drug his wife to abuse her, he did it for five years and admits it.
He blames his crimes on meeting Dominic Pellico, who he says was “reassuring like a cousin.” The prosecutor’s office is demanding 17 years of imprisonment.
