This Monday, Dominique Pelicot’s daughter filed a police complaint against him, accusing him of drugging and raping her as well. Pelicot’s trial, which exposed his years of assaulting his wife with strangers, appalled France.
Last December, Mr. Pelicot was found guilty of drugging and raping his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, for almost ten years. He also invited several men to their southern French house so they could rape her with him. Additionally, fifty other men were convicted, primarily for sexually assaulting or raping Ms. Pelicot while she was under a strong sedative.
Caroline Darian, the daughter of the Pelicots, approached her father twice during the trial, claiming she was certain he had raped and drugged her. Mr. Pelicot denied on several occasions that he had raped his daughter, much alone drugged her or ever touched her.
Last year, Mr. Pelicot was not charged by the prosecution with drugging or assaulting his daughter. A prosecutor will review the complaint Ms. Darian submitted this week and determine if there is sufficient evidence to prosecute Mr. Pelicot on further crimes.
Additionally, last year, Mr. Pelicot was found guilty of capturing private pictures of his daughter and daughters-in-law. On his laptops and hard drives, detectives discovered over 20,000 images and films that helped them identify more rapists and chronicled many of the hundreds of assaults he planned on his drugged wife.
Additionally, pictures shot at various times showed his daughter sleeping with the covers drawn back and the lights on, wearing underwear she claimed wasn’t hers.
During the trial, he gave several explanations for the pictures. He made a variety of claims, including that he did not take the pictures, that he did not think they were of her, and that he did it in order to avoid being blackmailed.
In an interview this week, Ms. Darian, who uses a pen name, stated that she had anticipated her charges from the trial last year would be thoroughly investigated.
She stated, “I hoped to get the truth.” “That didn’t occur.”
“I can’t stop there,” she went on. It isn’t feasible because my situation wasn’t thoroughly explored.
According to Florence Rault, a lawyer Ms. Darian engaged to start on a fresh case, there was material from the trial last year that investigators had not looked at.
“It is quite evident that some aspects were completely overlooked. She stated, “They deleted a portion of the file.”
Béatrice Zavarro, the attorney for Mr. Pelicot, stated that she was not shocked but had not yet seen the complaint that Ms. Rault claimed included ten accusations, including drugging someone against their will, rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault.
In addition to being indicted for two other cold cases—the 1991 rape and murder of a woman who was 23 at the time and the 1999 attempted rape of a woman who was 19 at the time—Mr. Pelicot is already France’s most notorious sexual predator.
While examining homes, the two ladies were drugged with ether and stabbed with a blade by a potential customer. According to investigation records brought out in court during the trial last year, Mr. Pelicot acknowledged drugging one of the ladies but denied any role in the murder.
