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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.