Psychologists testifying in one of France‘s worst-ever sexual abuse trials this week revealed chilling insights into the mind of the man at the centre of it all – Dominique Pelicot.
Mr Pelicot, a 71-year-old retired electrician, is facing up to 20 years in prison along with 50 other defendants, all of whom are accused of the ‘aggravated rape’ of Dominique’s wife, Gisele.
He oversaw a near-decade-long campaign of abuse between 2011 and 2020 in which he systematically drugged his wife unconscious and invited dozens of strangers to their family home to rape her on camera.
Now, a psychologist told the court that Mr Pelicot was struggling to adapt to prison life and that he was directing his anger at his daughter Caroline, who said her father drugged her and secretly photographed her in the nude.
Dr Paul Bensussan said: ‘[Mr Pelicot] is overwhelmed by his current situation. But his anger is greater than his sadness. His anger is mostly directed at his daughter Caroline because of the book that she has written, entitled; “And I Stopped Calling You Dad”.’
Other psychologists and detectives who interviewed Mr Pelicot following his arrest in September 2020 revealed that he complained the criminal charges against him had ‘ruined his life’ and said he and his wife could’ve continued living ‘happily’.
Speaking at his trial in a court in Avignon, in France’s Provence, they described him as a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ man who considered himself a ‘good husband’ – even though he routinely drugged his wife and directed men to violate her without her knowledge or consent.
They also concluded that although he has acknowledged his crimes, he will always remain a danger and ‘cannot be treated’.
Dominique Pelicot is accused of recruiting men online to assault his wife repeatedly over a 10 year period
Caroline Peyronnet, 45, told the Avignon court how she believed her father had drugged her too, after police showed her photos of her lying unconscious on a bed in her mother’s underwear
Gisele P. re-enters the courthouse during the trial of her husband accused of drugging her for nearly ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan
Dominique Pelicot is accused of orchestrating the rape ring
A psychological report submitted to the court suggested Mr Pelicot displayed a tendency towards ‘paraphilia’ – sexual arousal in atypical situations – and also ‘somnophilia’ – an attraction to unconscious partners.
This made him a ‘very caring and much-loved grandfather by day’ but ‘a rapist at night’, psychologist Bruno Daunizeau explained in the report.
The ‘two-faced personality’ of a ‘sex addict’ and ‘manipulative pervert’ meant Mr Pelicot acted like the split-personality character in ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, the Gothic horror novel by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson.
‘During the day, you can be normal, and have another face at night,’ said Dr Daunizeau.
Marianne Douteau, another psychologist, told the court that Mr Pelicot still felt his life could have carried on as normal, despite the crimes he has admitted to.
She agreed he had a ‘split personality’, and had inherited the temper of a violent father.
Ms Douteau said Mr Pelicot ‘complains that this criminal case against him has destroyed his life.
‘He claims everything could have continued as before if he had not been arrested.’
Mr Pelicot is said to have claimed: ‘Gisele would not have known anything, we would have continued to be happy.’
Dr Douteau added that Mr Pelicot ‘has a two-sided personality – he is a patriarch but he is also irresponsible and manipulative. Behind closed doors he does not respect limits.’
Mr Pelicot told detectives that he considered himself a ‘good husband’ to the woman he married in 1971 and had three children with.
He said he was ‘respectful of his wife’s desires and refusals’ to sex, but ‘also had fantasies about swinging,’ and ‘got pleasure in’ seeing his wife undergo sexual acts that she normally refused’.
This afternoon, Dr Paul Bensussan said Mr Pelicot had tried to justify his abuse of his wife by the abuse he himself suffered as a child, telling the court that he believed the defendant will always present a danger.
The doctor said: ‘Pelicot is a persistent liar… he has a split personality. Even if he says he acknowledges his crimes, he will remain a voyeur and exhibitionist.
‘I do not believe that this can be treated.
‘Sexual orientation is given for life, whether that sexuality is deviant or not. And the problem with perversion is that the doses must be increased.
‘The only cure is old age because this leads to physical decline… this is not a satisfactory treatment.’
Courageous Gisele Pelicot has bravely waved her right to anonymity so that the world can hear the depth of depravity her husband of 50 years sank to in order to satisfy his twisted sexual desires
Gisele Pelicot speaks to the press alongside her lawyer on September 5, outside the courtroom in Avignon, France
Gisele Pelicot, 72, told the court in Avignon how she wanted to ‘disappear’ when police revealed the dark truth to her after arresting her husband in late 2020. Pictured: Gisele Pelicot (R), accompanied by her son David (C) and Florian (L) as they leave the criminal court in Avignon, France, September 5
David and Florian Pelicot enter the courtroom on the morning of Monday, September 9
Turning to Madame Pelicot and her children, Dr Bensussan said: ‘I will have to be a be a little crude and I apologise in advance to the civil parties [Madame Pelicot and her children].
‘Pelicot explained that she refused what he wanted (to have sex with other partners). But asleep she could refuse him nothing.
‘This is rape by order… (for him) it is as if she were the one who had soiled the family.’
Another psychologist who interviewed Mr Pelicot in December 2020 a month and a half after he was taken into custody, told the court on Monday: ‘Pelicot said: ”My wife and I had a discussion about swinging but she didn’t agree so I drugged her”.’
Annabelle Montagne said Pelicot maintained he loved his wife, but she added: ‘He sees his partner as an object to satisfy his sexual and narcissistic needs. His wife is then a partial object and no longer an object of total love.’
On Friday, Mr Pelicot’s own daughter described him as ‘one of the greatest sexual predators’ of all time.
Caroline Darian, 46 told the Vaucluse Criminal Court that he secretly photographed her in the nude, along with her two sisters-in-law.
This was at the same family home in Mazan, some 20 miles from Avignon, which Mr Pelicot had invited the men to after contacting them online.
Ms Darian was convinced that – like her mother – she was routinely drugged so that her father could defile her.
Mr Pelicot, who has been remanded in custody since his arrest in 2020, was considered too ill to give evidence on Monday, so will be cross-examined by prosecutors later in the week.
He was first arrested in September 2020 for filming up women’s skirts at a supermarket in Carpentras.
His devices were searched, and police discovered he had meticulously catalogued thousands of photos and pornographic videos of women, including family members.
It was while in custody that Mr Pelicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer, which contained a file called ‘Abuses’.
It classified the nickname and telephone numbers of attackers, together with some 3,800 photos and videos of Gisele Pelicot being raped, between 2011 and 2020.
Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified.
The sons of Gisele Pelicot, Florian, right, David, left, and her daughter Caroline, centre, arrive in the Avignon court house, southern France, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024
Madame Pelicot is determined that the public knows that she played no part in her husband’s warped sexual fantasies that he played out at their picturesque chalet home in the Provence village of Mazan (pictured)
Mr Pelicot moved his family from greater Paris in 1991, and later allegedly set up the sex ring.
It involved advertising on a site for ‘partners’ on an online forum called ‘Without Her Knowing’ on the coco.fr site.
Of the 83 men involved, 51 aged between 26 and 73 were identified and arrested by the police.
Mr Pelicot is said to have sedated his wife by putting Temesta – a powerful anxiolytic – into her evening dinner.
Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.
In a separate case, Mr Pelicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991.
He has admitted one attempted rape in 1999, after DNA testing proved a case against him.
The Avignon aggravated rape case continues, and is due to last until December 21.
Fourteen of the other defendants have admitted rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing.