The last of 50 men to be cross-examined in the rape of a drugged and naked Gisèle Pelicot stood before the judges in a white sweater and jeans.
Philippe Leleu: Single, no children, a dedicated weight lifter and professional gardener who, at 62, was nearing retirement when the police came knocking.
“I never imagined I’d come before a court for him, never, never,” she told the judges recently.
Yet here he was, among the accused, standing in the crowded courtroom in the southern city of Avignon, part of a mass rape trial, now in its 12th week, that has deeply shaken France.
Ms. Pelicot’s ex-husband of 50 years, Dominique Pelicot, has pleaded guilty to drugging her for almost a decade to rape her, and offering her unconscious body up to strangers he met online.
Persons:
Gisèle Pelicot, Philippe Leleu, “, ”, Pelicot’s, Dominique Pelicot
Organizations:
Prosecutors
Locations:
Avignon, France