Gang rape case in France: The abused Pelicot family was torn apart in front of everyone

Nude photographs of his wife Celine, who was pregnant with his twin daughters, were also found among Mr Pelicot’s files. He was filmed with a hidden camera while he was in the bathroom.

In his voice full of emotion, David described watching his mother, weak and lost, standing on a train platform, her life reduced to her dog and a suitcase.

Recalling her parents’ birthday parties for her and her siblings that were the envy of their friends, she said: “My childhood is gone; was deleted.”

There seems to be no end to the trauma rippling through this family. David’s son, now 18, wonders what really happened when Dominique asked him to “play doctor” as a child.

The family’s lawyer said Wednesday that their younger siblings “will have to find their place in a family where their grandmother, mother, brother and aunt were victims of their grandfather.”

Caroline’s young son is still deeply shaken by the carefully worded revelation that his beloved grandfather harmed his grandmother four years ago.

“This is just one example of the depth of pain caused by rape in the family,” lawyer Stéphane Babonneau said in his closing statement.

The decision is expected to be made on December 20. Mr Pelicot faces 20 years in prison, the maximum penalty for rape in France.

And for the rest of his family, the trauma will continue. Because none of them will know for sure what he did or didn’t do.

In one of the shaky phone videos shown in court, a tall, naked man stands in the middle of a dark bedroom. Another man sits on the bed, smiling and snoring softly next to an unconscious woman lying next to him.

Behind him, on a dresser, is a photograph clearly visible despite the dim light.

The Pelicot family huddled together on the beach on a sunny day and smiling at the camera.