Up to 20 years in prison requested in Avignon rape case

In the case about drugs and years of sexual abuse in the south of France, the prosecutor demanded prison sentences between 4 and 20 years for 51 defendants.

On Wednesday, the prosecution sought a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for aggravated rape only for the main defendant in the case, Dominique Pelicot.

He admitted in court in Avignon that he had drugged and abused his then-wife Gisèle for almost a decade and that strangers had raped her.

The prosecutor accused only one of the other 50 defendants of sexual violence and requested a 4-year prison sentence. In its three-day defense, the prosecution demanded a prison sentence of at least 10 and a maximum of 18 years for the others for rape.

“The experience was so extraordinary that there will be a before and after,” prosecutor Laure Chabaud said. “We can only hope that the defendants have a real and profound awareness of the acts and, in particular, of the issue of consent.”

The massive case has been shaking France since September. The defense will begin closing arguments Wednesday afternoon.

The court plans to hand down its decision shortly before Christmas.

Gisèle Pelicot believes she was raped almost 200 times over a period of almost ten years. A series of videos and photos belonging to her then-husband are said to confirm the attacks.

Investigators suspect that in addition to the 50 defendants, about a dozen other people were involved in the crimes, but they have not been identified.