A daughter has stormed out of her father’s rape trial after learning that he kept nude pictures of her on his computer.
Dominique Pélicot, 71, is accused of drugging his wife and inviting over 80 strangers he met online to come to his home and rape her.
Over a ten-year period, Gisele Pélicot, 72, was unknowingly given a mix of sleeping pills and tranquillisers by her husband to knock her unconscious.
The horrific discovery came to light when police uncovered more than 20,000 photos of Gisele being assaulted by strangers who were recruited on a forum called ‘Without her knowledge' on a now-shut-down site.
Daughter storms out of father's rape trial after learning he kept nude pictures of herGettyDetectives reported a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom were identified and are being tried alongside Dominique, a former employee at France's power utility company, EDF.
During the second day of the trial, presiding judge Roger Arata revealed to the court that photos of Pélicot’s naked daughter Caroline Darain, had also been found on the 71-year-old’s computer, inside a folder named “My Daughter Naked”.
Following the horrific revelation, Darain stormed out of the court in tears.
Darian had already written a book about her father’s crimes and their impact on the family called And I Stopped Calling You Daddy, which was quoted during the court proceedings.
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Over a ten-year period, Gisele Pelicot, 72, was unknowingly given a mix of sleeping pills and tranquillisers by her husband to knock her unconscious
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Speaking to Le Parisien this week, she said that she was “haunted by the fear” that her father may have invited men to rape her too after she discovered a photo of her “in someone else’s underwear” on his computer.
She added: “I'm convinced I was drugged, but he'll never admit it.”
The case against Dominique only came to light after he was caught filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket in 2020. When questioned, he said he had “acted on urges”. Upon investigation, detectives said they found hundreds of pictures and videos of his wife on his computer.
The abuse dates back to 2011, when the couple was living near Paris, and continued after they moved to Mazan two years later. The husband participated in the rapes, filmed them and encouraged the other men using degrading language, according to prosecutors.
Gisele’s lawyer, Antoine Camus, said the trial would be a “horrible ordeal” for his client, who married her husband in 1973.
The trial has begun in FranceGoogle Maps“For the first time, she will have to live through the rapes that she endured over ten years,” he said.
“She could have chosen a trial behind closed doors, but 'that's what her attackers would have wanted'.”
Gisele could have opted to keep her anonymity but decided to have a trial open to the public and journalists to ensure “complete publicity until the end”.
“She was dreading this moment but is relieved that the hearing is open and that she will not be locked up for four months with her assailants,” said Stephane Babonnea, one of her lawyers.
The defendant has also been charged with a 1991 murder and rape, which he denies, and an attempted rape in 1999, to which he admitted after DNA testing.
The shocking trial is due to last until December 20.