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A man was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the original case.