World News

French court extends jail time for man convicted in Pelicot rape case

Oct 10, 2025

Paris [France], October 10: A French court has handed down a tougher sentence on appeal for one of the 51 men convicted in the high-profile rape case of Gisele Pelicot. The court in Nîmes, southern France, increased the prison term of the 44-year-old from nine to 10 years, French media reported on Thursday from the courtroom. Pelicot's husband, Dominique, confessed in court last year to having repeatedly drugged, abused and allowed strangers to rape his then-wife over nearly 10 years. He received the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. All 50 co-defendants were also found guilty, mostly of aggravated rape, and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years. Initially, 17 of the convicted men wanted to appeal their convictions, but only one went through with it. In the appeal trial, the prosecution had sought a 12-year prison sentence for the 44-year-old, whose actions, like those of Pelicot's ex-husband and the other perpetrators, had been recorded in detail on video. Many defendants later claimed they believed the assaults were part of a consensual sex game between the couple, arguing that the husband's consent sufficed. (dpa