The 50 men on trial for raping unconscious grandmother Gisèle Pelicot in a ten-year campaign of sordid secret attacks orchestrated by her husband have been dubbed “Monsieur Tout-le-monde” — Mr Everyman.
They are men of all walks of life, ranging in age from 27 to 74, who answered Dominique Pelicot’s invitation to abuse his drugged wife in an online chatroom.
On Friday a French court found 47 men guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault.
Most lived in south-eastern France within a 60km radius of the village of Mazan, where the Pelicots retired. One, Simoné Mekenes, 43, was their next door neighbour.
They include a firefighter, a journalist, a nurse, a prison guard and a construction worker. Some are retired, some are unemployed and three quarters have families of their own.
One knew he had HIV when he raped Gisèle on six occasions and chose not to wear a condom, according to police. She didn’t contract HIV, though she was found to have other sexually transmitted diseases, a medical expert testified.
Six have previous convictions for domestic violence, two have convictions for sexual violence. A total of 23 have a criminal record for offences such as drunk-driving and possession of drugs.
These are the men accused of carrying out one of the worst sex crimes in French history.
1. Dominique Pelicot, 72, retired electrician and construction supervisor
Gisèle Pelicot’s husband of almost 50 years, together the couple share three adult children Caroline, David and Florian.
Telling the court “I am a rapist”, he admitted to his crimes, revealing he had started drugging Gisèle in 2011 after 40 years of marriage when he was nearing retirement.
The abuse continued for the next ten years as he continued to sneak tranquilisers into her food and drink as he invited others met in an online chatroom to join the attacks, which he filmed in their bedroom.
He was found guilty of rape and sentenced to 20 years - the maximum possible jail term.
2. Jean-Pierre Marechal, 63, garden store worker
Described by the French media as Pelicot’s “disciple”, he is the only defendant not accused of raping Gisèle. However he admitted to following Pelicot’s lead, drugging his own wife for five years, raping her and inviting Pelicot to rape her too.
He has since said that was he did to his wife was “atrocious” and admitted: “I was a rapist, but I’m not anymore.”
He was found guilty of attempted rape and aggravated rape of his wife and sentenced to 12 years.
3. Lionel Rodriguez, 44, supermarket worker
The salesman worked in the same supermarket in Carpentras where Pelicot was first caught filming under women’s skirts in 2020.
The father of three alleged he was influenced by Pelicot. He said he “never had the intention” of raping Gisèle Pelicot but “as I did not have Madame Pelicot’s consent, I can only say that I did”.
He was found guilty of attempted rape and aggravating factors and sentenced to eight years.
4. Jacques Cubeau, 73, former firefighter
The retired father of two, who also used to work as a truck driver, told the court he believed he was taking part in a consensual fantasy when he visited the Pelicot’s Mazan home 2020.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to five years.
5. Cyrille Delville, 54, construction worker
With no criminal record, the former amateur footballer has been with his partner for 32 years, with whom he shares two children.
He admitted to rape and said he didn’t know what to do once he realised she was unconscious: “I froze. I was cheating on my wife.”
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
6. Andy Rodriguez, 37, unemployed
An unemployed alcoholic from Carpentras, he was accused of visiting the Pelicot’s home on New Year’s Eve in 2018 after logging on to the now closed ‘Coco’ website.
He was found guilty of attempted rape and aggravating factors and sentenced to six years.
7. Joan Kawai, 27, soldier
The trial heard he missed the birth of his daughter because he was busy assaulting Gisèle.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to 10 years.
8. Hugues Malago, 39, tiler
The father of two daughters denied attempted rape after he visited the Pelicot’s in October 2019.
He was found guilty of attempted rape and two aggravating factors and sentenced to five years.
9. Husamettin Dogan, 43, construction worker
Born in Turkey, the father was living in Valréas when he met Pelicot online. He claimed Pelicot had asked him to take part in a scenario in which his wife would “pretend to be asleep”.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to nine years.
10. Mathieu Dartus, 53, former baker
He alleged he had taken MDMA on the night he visited the Pelicot’s in October 2020,
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to seven years.
11. Fabien Sotto, 39, unemployed
After experiencing abuse in foster care, the homeless father of four spent seven years living on the streets of Toulon. He has a total of 16 convictions, including two for domestic violence.
He admitted to going to Pelicot’s home in August 2018, but insisted “I didn’t go there intending to rape”.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to 11 years.
12. Jean Tirano, 52, roofer
In court, he said he could not remember raping Gisèle, claiming he was drugged by Pelicot, which Pelicot denied. “I know I’m going to come across as either a liar or an idiot,” he told the court.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
13. Simoné Mekenes, 43, temp worker
The father-of-six was the only defendant Gisele recognised because he lived next door. Once, Pelicot invited him to come to their house to see Gisèle, under the pretext of selling him a bike tyre. Pelicot “manipulated me and I fell into his trap,” Mekenese said in court.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to nine years.
14. Redouan El Farihi, 55, nurse
The nurse, who was addicted to masturbation, went to Mazan in June 2019 while his wife was away in Morocco for two months. He claimed Dominique Pelicot had told him that his wife would pretend to be asleep.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
15. Thierry Postat, 61, fridge technician
The father of three from northern Paris was accused of visiting Mazan in August 2020.
He also faced charges for the possession of over a thousand pieces of child pornography and some zoophilic images.
He was sentenced to 12 years. He is also banned from working with children for life.
16. Jérôme Vilela, 46, ex-volunteer fireman
The divorced father of two was accused of visiting the Pelicot’s home six times between March and June 2020.
He admitted to knowing Gisèle was drugged, saying he was astonished that any defendants claimed they were unaware.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to 13 years.
17. Adrien Longeron, 34, site manager
Longeron was the first of the co-accused to visit the Pelicot home on 14 March 2014, when he was 23.
He denied rape, claiming he believed he was taking part in a consensual scenario.
“As long as the husband was present, there was no rape,” he told the court.
He is already serving a 14-year prison sentence for rape, violence and harassment of three other women. He was found guilty of aggravated rape and child abuse imagery and sentenced to six years.
18. Thierry Parisis, 54, mason
A few months after his divorce in 2020, Parisis went to Mazan after meeting Pelicot in the Coco chatroom.
He was found guilty to aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
19. Vincent Coullet, 43, carpenter
Coullet was accused of visiting the Pelicot home in October 2019 and again in January 202o.
Gisele walked out of the courtroom when he claimed his participation was “was for the couple, to satisfy them”.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to ten years.
20. Didier Sambuchi, 67, retired lorry driver
The married father of two, whose wife left him, claimed he went to Mazan for a homosexual relationship in January 2019.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to five years.
21. Patrick Aron, 60, unemployed
Aron, who went to Mazan in March 2018 after meeting Pelicot online, also claimed he had visited hoping for a homosexual encounter.
He told the court he did what Pelicot told him to because he was waiting for their own sexual liaison.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to six years, which he will serve in a special prison due to health issues.
22. Jean-Marc Leloup, 74, retired lorry driver
The pensioner is the oldest defendant on trial and the court heard he had been a swinger and regularly used prostitutes.
He alleged he was tricked and would not have taken part if he did not believe Gisèle had consented.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to six years.
23. Karim Sebaoui, 40, IT worker
A Skype exchange with Pelicot proved that Sebaoui knew Gisèle was drugged when he asked: “Is the sleeping pill working?”
He cried as he was sentenced to ten years for aggravated rape and having child abuse imagery.
24. Mohamed Rafaa, 70, DJ
Gasps were heard in the courtroom when the Moroccan-born pensioner insisted: “I’m as much a victim as (Gisèle) is.”
He was accused of raping the grandmother while the Pelicot’s were on holiday at her daughter’s holiday home on the Île de Ré in May 2019.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
25. Dominique Davies, 45, lorry driver
The former soldier was described Pelicot as the “most complicit” of all the co-accused after he visited their home in Mazan six times between 2015 and 2020.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to 13 years.
26. Cyprien Culieras, 44, forklift driver
Culieras has eight previous convictions, mainly for theft, and told the court he visited Mazan in November 2017 to regain self-confidence after intestinal surgery.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to six years.
27. Mahdi Daoudi, 36, transport worker
Daoudi admitted visiting Mazan in October 2018 but claimed he left when he realised Gisèle was asleep, apologising in court. He was sentenced to eight years.
28. Cyril Beaubis, 47, lorry driver
Beaubis visited Mazan in November 2018 after sending pictures to Pelicot online. He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to nine years.
29. Ahmed Tbarik, 54, plumber
The plumber has been in a relationship for 30 years and has three daughters and five grandchildren.
The court heard he registered with the Coco site because he was having “less intercourse” with his wife.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
30. Redouane Azougagh, 40, unemployed
The father of four has previously been convicted of domestic violence, along with aggravated theft and violence.
He first came to Mazan in March 2019 and later returned in April. He then demanded money from Pelicot in exchange for his silence.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to nine years.
31. Patrice Nicolle, 55, electrician
In February 2020, Nicolle went to the Pelicot home in Mazan “for a threesome,” he claimed. He admitted that Pelicot had warned him that his wife was taking pills.
Asked if he considered informing the police, he told the court he did not think he would be believed, adding: “I didn’t feel like wasting my time at the police station.”
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
32. Grégory Serviol, 31, plasterer
Serviol had seven convictions for theft, traffic offences and drug use. He plunged into a deep depression following the death of his premature daughter and visited Mazan in June 2017.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
33. Abdelali Dallal, 47, unemployed
Dallal’s partner waited for him in the car while he had sex with an unconscious Gisèle.
He initially tried to suggest it was not him in the videos of assaults at the Pelicot’s home in Mazan in January and March 2018, before later admitting all charges.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years, suspended due to medical issues and requirement for special prison.
34. Jean-Luc La, 46, mirror maker
The father of four visited Mazan twice, in February 2018 and March 2019. He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to ten years.
35. Florian Rocca, 32, delivery driver
The father of three has nine criminal convictions for driving without a licence, group theft and drug use and concealment.
He claimed he had been told he was taking part in the Pelicot “couple’s fantasy” when he visited Mazan in December 2019.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to seven years.
36. Quentin Hennebert, 34, prison guard
Hennebert is suspended from duty as a guard at Le Pontet prison in Avignon and has been working as an ambulance driver.
He went to Mazan in November 2019. In court, he admitted to all the charges against him. He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to seven years.
37. Romain Vandevelde, 63, pensioner
The court heard how Pelicot ‘presented’ Gisèle to Vandevelde without her knowledge in a supermarket encounter.
Despite being HIV positive, he abused her six times without using a condom between December 2019 and June 2020. She didn’t contract HIV, though she was found to have other sexually transmitted diseases, a medical expert testified.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to 15 years.
38. Cendric Venzin, 44, restaurant manager
Convicted several times for drink driving, Venzin first came to the Pelicot home in 2016 and went a second time in 2018 after connecting with Pelicot online.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to nine years.
39. Omar Douiri, 36, cleaner
Douiri has worked cleaning buses in Avignon for the past ten years. He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
40. Ludovick Blemeur, 39, shopkeeper
Blemeur was accused of raping Gisèle at her daughter’s home near Paris in December 2019. He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to seven years.
41. Saifeddine Ghabi, 36, lorry driver
Ghabi was found guilty of sexual assault, but acquitted of rape and attempted rape. He received a three year sentence.
He told the court there was no penetration when he visited Mazan in November 2019.
42. Hassan Ouamou, 30, on the run
Ouamou was tried in absentia after he fled France during the investigation.
He already has 13 convictions between 2010 and 2017 for theft, acts of violence, and also weapons and drugs offences.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to 12 years, although he has told investigators he has no intention of returning to France.
43. Paul Grovogui, 31, food processing worker
Grovogui admitted visiting Mazan once, in broad daylight, in 2016 after making contact with Pelicot on the Coco website.
He admitted the charges. He told the court: “I was young, I went there, excuse the term, for fun. I trusted this gentleman.”
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
44. Cédric Grassot, 50, computer technician
In court, he told Gisele “I was your rapist… I was your tormentor” as he admitted the charges.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to 12 years.
45. Joseph Cocco, 69, retired
Cocca was not charged with rape, but denied sexually assaulting the grandmother after meeting Pelicot for a threesome in June 2020.
Video of the encounter shows him touching Gisèle on the buttock as she slept.
He left when he heard her snoring, but failed to call the police. He was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to three years.
46. Nicolas François, 42, journalist
The freelance told the court each morning he would log on to the Coco website to find a sexual partner.
Video of his visit to Mazan in January 2018, which he claimed he thought would be a homosexual encounter, showed his failed attempt to have sex with Gisèle.
François was found guilty of aggravated rape and having child abuse imagery. He was sentenced to eight years and banned from working near children.
47. Philippe Leleu, 62, gardener
The 62-year-old weight-lifter told the court: “I didn’t know that a finger was rape.”
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to five years, of which two are suspended.
48. Boris Moulin, 37, office worker
A worker at a transport company, Moulin went to Mazan in January 2020. He had responded to a proposal from Pelicot for candaulism – a sexual practice or fantasy in which a man exposes his female partner, or images of her, to other people for their pleasure.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to eight years.
49. Christian Lescole, 57, firefighter
The married father of two daughters told the trial his body, not his brain, committed the assault and denied rape.
He was also accused of possessing child porn after Skype exchanges revealed plans for sexual relations with underage girls.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape but acquitted of having child abuse imagery. He was sentenced to nine years.
50. Nizar Hamida, 41, unemployed
The qualified hairdresser has eight previous convictions, including for domestic violence and trying to abduct his child with a former partner.
He told the court: “I’m not a rapist. Why would I go and rape a 66-year-old woman?”
He said the October 2020 sexual encounter was his ‘bachelor party’ after marrying a young woman in Tunisia.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to ten years.
51. Charly Arbo, 30, temp worker
Arbo was 22 when he went to the Pelicot’s home for the first time in January 2016. He returned five more times between December 2018 and June 2020.
It was alleged that Pelicot gave him three sedatives in order to drug his mother, but Arbo insists he threw them away. Police found very small traces of sedatives in a sample of his mother’s hair, but he has not been charged with drugging her.
He was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to 13 years.
