Husband admits he is 'a rapist' as he confesses to recruiting men to assault wife

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A husband told the French court, "I am a rapist," as he confessed to drugging his wife and recruiting dozens of strangers to sexually assault her for over a decade, according to reporting by Reuters and other outlets.

Dominique Pelicot, 71, is being charged with a litany of charges, including rape, gang rape, and privacy breaches by recording and disseminating sexual images, Reuters and the New York Times reported. He and 50 other men, currently aged 26 to 74, are facing up to 20 years in jail for their alleged offenses against his 72-year-old wife, Gisele Pelicot, the outlets said.

“She didn’t deserve this, I recognize that,” an emotional Pelicot said in court in Avignon, France on Tuesday. "I am a rapist just like all the others in this room. I ask my wife, my children (and) my grandchildren to accept my apologies. I regret what I did. I ask for your forgiveness, even if it is not forgivable."

French authorities arrested Pelicot on Nov. 2, 2020, for the numerous rape and assault charges.

"For 50 years, I lived with a man who I would never have imagined was capable of these acts of rape," Gisele Pelicot said during the public trial she insisted on having to expose her husband and her other alleged rapists, according to Reuters.

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'You are not alone'

Gisele Pelicot began divorce proceedings after she met with investigators regarding the case, the outlet said.

“Thanks to all of you, I have the strength to fight this battle to the end,” Gisele Pelicot told reporters at the courthouse, per the New York Times.

She also offered a message to other victims of sexual violence.

“Look around you,” she said, according to the New York-based outlet. “You are not alone.”

How did French authorities find out about Dominique Pelicot's alleged crimes?

Pelicot first got on French authorities' radar on Sept. 12, 2020, when he was initially arrested for filming up a woman's skirt in a supermarket. Once in custody, police seized a camcorder, condoms and a camera in his bag, along with two mobile phones, a laptop and other digital equipment from his home, the New York Times reported.

The seized equipment indicated that Pelicot had participated in a private chatroom on a website called Coco.gg, according to the New York-based paper.

Authorities soon found 300 video and image files of Gisele Pelicot being abused by numerous men on several occasions, Reuters reported. A total of 72 men allegedly engaged in the sexual abuse of his then-wife, according to authorities, per the outlet.

Some of the men admitted guilt to investigators, others said they were under the belief that they were enacting the Pelicots' fantasy and that Gisele Pelicot had consented to sex, according to Reuters.

"When they came, they already knew everything. They all knew how this went about before the meetings," Pelicot said during the hearing, per the outlet.

Dominique Pelicot sexually abused during youth

Pelicot told the court that he was sexually abused at age 9 by a nurse when he was admitted to a hospital for a head injury, the New York Times reported. He explained that his wife had helped him with his past trauma from the abuse for a long time.

Pelicot said he had an "ideal family" and refuted allegations made by his daughter and former wife of his youngest son, who said that he improperly touched his daughter and grandchildren, according to the New York Times.

“When you suffered as a child what I suffered, you are not at all tempted by that kind of thing,” he said while on the stand, per the outlet. “I have never touched a child. I would never touch one.”

When Pelicot was a teenager, he was forced to witness a gang rape while he was working as an apprentice electrical on a construction site, he told the court, the New York Times reported.

“I’m not looking for excuses, but these are the facts,” he said, per the outlet.

Dominique Pelicot was originally deemed too ill to testify

Before the hearing on Tuesday, Pelicot was deemed too ill to testify due to his deteriorating health, according to Reuters

"Mr Pelicot's state has become more serious. He will not be there tomorrow or Friday," Pelicot's lawyer Beatrice Zavarro said, without disclosing additional details of his medical status, per Reuters.

The chief judge stated earlier that he was considering pausing the entire trial if Pelicot's health deteriorated further, the outlet said.

Zavarro said on Sept. 11 that Pelicot was "still in a lot of pain" when he left the court for further medical checks that were carried out in jail, according to Reuters. She indicated Pelicot could have a bladder infection or colic, a type of abdominal pain.

Contributing: Reuters