The daughter-in-law of a man accused of letting 72 men rape his wife over a 10 year period says he also tried to get his young granddaughter to pose naked for him.
Dominique Pélicot, 71, was labelled ‘one of the world’s worst sexual predators’ by his own daughter after it was revealed he spent years drugging his wife Gisèle, 72, and allowing dozens of strangers to rape her.
Speaking in court today in Avignon, France, his daughter-in-law Aurore Lemaire, 37, recalled a harrowing moment in 2020 when her daughters were propositioned by Pélicot in a supermarket.
She said when the girls asked their grandfather if he would buy them a toy, he responded ‘I’d be very happy to get it for you if you pose naked for me’.
Lemaire also accused Pélicot of taking naked pictures of her in the shower, which she said was ‘a real shock’ to discover.
His other daughter-in-law Celine Fontelle also told the court: ‘There are photos of me naked in the bathroom.
‘My father-in-law created a montage of photos of me.’
Also taking the stand was Pélicot’s daughter Caroline Payronnet, who declared her father to be one of the worst sexual predators of the last two decades as he sobbed in the dock beside her.
Payronnet told the court how she came to the sickening realisation that her father had likely drugged her too, after police showed her pictures of her lying unconscious on a bed in her mother’s underwear.
In an emotive tesitimony which saw her leave the courtroom in tears to compose herself, Peyronnet described the moment her mother told her the truth of her father’s crimes.
She told the court: ‘I stand here as the child and daughter of the main accused and as a victim of an unbearable atrocity.
‘At 8.25pm on 2nd November 2020, my family changed. Before that we were a united family. I loved my father.
‘I knew him as a caring, considerate man who was affectionate father without any hint of an inappropriate look or unwelcomed touch. What hit as a like a cataclysm.
‘Then my mother called me to say that there was a problem with my father. I imagine that he is intensive care, that he is dying.
‘But she tells me that my father has been drugging her for years so that strangers can rape her in her own bed.
‘She says she has seen photos of what happened to her and that the police want to show her video’s of what happened.
‘I totally lost my foundations. Fortunately my husband was there and my six year old son too. We took him away so that he did not hear his mother’s screams.
‘My mother was alone in the house where she had been defiled by so many strangers.
‘We know she is in danger that night and I did not close my eyes that night, neither could my brothers.
‘In the morning I took my son to school but I cannot tell him that he will never see the grandfather that he loves so much again.
‘When we get to my mother, we find her destroyed.
‘The police investigator tells us he doesn’t know how many men are involved – 30 or 50. My older brother David is stoic. My little brother Florian collapses.
‘Going back to that house after what we had heard was torture. The place where my son had loved to spend holidays with his grandpa. Impossible.
‘Then the police call me and tell me he has something to show me.
‘He tells me to sit down and he says he has two photos to show me.
Caroline continued: ‘The first photo is of a woman who is apparently sleeping lying on her side with the light on. We can see her backside.
‘The second photo, the same position, same panties, same staging.
‘I still don’t recognise myself and then the policeman says to me; “but it’s definitely you with that brown spot on your cheek”.
‘I discover that my father photographed me without my knowledge. I understood immediately that it was me in those photos. I do not sleep like that. So I strongly believe that he drugged me.’
Throwing her head back in despair Mrs Payronnet, she told the court: ‘I am not trying to undermine my father [but] justice must be done.
Gisèle faced her husband for the first time in court yesterday, telling those in attendance she wanted to ‘disappear’ after her husband’s campaign of abuse was revealed to her.
‘I only wanted one thing and that was to disappear,’ she told the court. ‘I told myself: ”I am going to get in my car with my dog and end it all.”
‘When I told my sons about this, I don’t think they really understood, they were withdrawn… I think they were in a state of shock. They said: ”Don’t say such silly things”.
‘[That] evening, the children rang all the time saying ”don’t disappear”… they were worried I might die.’
Yesterday she bravely told the court today she had been tested for HIV: ‘I was diagnosed with four sexually transmitted diseases at the Versailles medical forensic unit.’
Gisèle also told the court how she fell in love with Dominique and began married life with him, before her ‘world collapsed’ when she discovered his crimes.
Mr Pélicot wept as Gisèle described her feelings after finding out about her husband’s crimes: ‘Feelings of disgust. We had everything, we had a great life. I don’t understand how this could have happened.’
She also recalled how the policeman who arrested her former husband ‘saved my life’.
Gisèle, who has waived her right to anonymity, first of all thanked the lieutenant in the town of Carpentras who arrested her husband for secretly filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket.
Samaritans are here to listen, day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email [email protected] or visit samaritans.org for more information.
‘He saved my life and I probably wouldn’t be here without him,’ said the mother-of-three. Referring to ‘Mr Pélicot’, she recalled the moment he confessed to taking the seedy pictures.
Police found images on Mr Pélicot’s camera and laptop that showed multiple alleged rapes of his wife between 2011 and 2020 – the majority committed by strangers that Mr Pélicot had found online.
Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified.
The Avignon aggravated rape case continues, and is due to last until December 21.
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