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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.