All 51 men in Gisèle Pelicot trial found guilty – here’s who they are and what happens next

So, all 51 men in the Gisèle Pelicot trial have been found guilty of rape. Her 72-year-old husband Dominique Pelicot confessed to mixing sedatives in his wife Gisèle’s food and drink, then raping her. 50 other men have been found guilty of at least one offence. They will be sentenced soon. Here are who all the 51 men in the Gisèle Pelicot trial are, and what will happen to them next.

Dominique Pelicot

Gisèle was married to Dominique for over 50 years. They had three children together and lived in a small town in Provence, in France. Dominique was arrested in 2020 for filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket. When the police searched his house, they found thousands of videos of men raping his wife while she was unconscious.

He confessed to drugging and raping his wife. He told the court, “I am a rapist, like the others in this room.” Dominique has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

We know lots more about this case than we normally do about sexual assault cases, because Gisèle chose not to be anonymous. She wanted the accused men to feel “shame”, not her.

A illustration of Gisèle, Dominique and the other accused men
(Credit: ZZIIGG/SIPA/Shutterstock)

One man missed the birth of his daughter because he was sexually assaulting Gisèle

Joan Kawai is a 27-year-old. He raped Gisèle on November 2019 and missed his daughter being born. He’s been in custody since April and has a suggested sentence of 15 years.

Redouane Azougagh said his mother influenced his attitude towards women

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When the court asked Redouane Azougagh about his history of domestic violence, he said, “It’s probably because my mother abandoned me when I was young.” The judge asked if he had a grudge against all women. He replied, “No, not all women. Just my mother.”

The first of the men raped Gisèle in 2014

Adrien Longeron raped her in March 2014. His son was born ten days after this. He’s already serving a 14-year sentence for rape, harassment and violence against three ex-partners.

Dominique Pelicot found many of the men through an online chat room

Andy Rodriguez is 37 and unemployed. His brothers didn’t want to spend New Year’s Eve 2018 with him because of his problems with alcohol and drugs, so instead he found Dominique through the online chatroom. Fabien Sotton is an unemployed man who was detained in April 2021. One of his four children was born during this time.

A roofer called Jean Tirano drove two and a half hours to the Pelictos’ house. Thierry Postat, a 36-year-old transport worker called Mahdi Daoudi, a truck driver called Cyril Beaubis, a landlord called Ahmed Tbarik, the electrician Patrice Nicolle, the plasterer Grégory Serviol, a mirror marker called Jean-Luc La, the and the delivery driver Florian Rocca met Dominique through the same platform.

Quentin Hennebert said he was on the platform to find people to sell ecstasy to.

Philippe Leleu told the court, “I didn’t know that a finger was rape.”

Dominique also found Cendric Venzin, Omar Douiri, Ludovick Blemeur, Saifeddine Ghabi, Paul-Koikoi Grovogui, Boris Moulin in online chatrooms on the same website.

Four men raped Gisèle more than once

Jérôme Vilela raped Gisèle six times. He said he didn’t believe the defendants who claimed they didn’t realise Gisèle was drugged. He said, “Having been there six times, it’s difficult to adopt any stance other than to admit it.”

Romain Vandevelde is a pensioner who met Dominique in a supermarket. He sexually assaulted Gisèle six times, even though he knew he was HIV positive.

Dominique Davies raped her twice. Charly Arbo was 22 when he first raped Gisèle. He returned to their house another five times.

(Credit: Guillaume Horcajuelo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Many of the men lived in the same local area as Gisèle

Lionel Rodriguez is 44 and worked in the same supermarket in Carpentras where Dominique was caught taking videos up women’s skirts. Cyrille Delville is a 54-year-old construction worker who said he was sexually frustrated in his own marriage, and Dominique “insisted” he raped Gisèle.

Some thought they were taking part in a consensual ‘fantasy’

73-year-old Jacques Cubeau is a retired fireman who only went to Mazan once. He thought he was participating in a “scenario” which Gisèle consented to. Husamettin Dogan is a 43-year-old construction worker who saw an online post in which Dominique claimed he and his wife were looking for a third person to participate in a scenario while Gisèle “pretends to be asleep”.

Mathieu Dartus was a baker for 25 years until he realised he had a gluten intolerance. He thought Gisèle being unconscious “was part of the fantasy exposed an hour before. There was nothing that shocked me that night.” A former soldier called Simoné Mekenese thought he was part of “a scenario”.

Gisèle walked out of the courtroom while Vincent Coullet spoke. He said he participated in this “for the couple, to satisfy them”. Cyprien Culieras thought Gisèle was pretending to be asleep.

A nurse claimed he went through with it because he was ‘terrified’ of Dominique Pelicot

55-year-old Redouane El Farihi said “What I did was out of fear, to not frustrate him, he seemed like a psychopath.” The prosecutors have still requested he goes to prison for 12 years.

Five men are also facing charges related to child pornography

A fridge technician was also on child for possessing over a thousand pieces of child pornography and zoophilia. Thierry Postat might go to prison for 14 years because of these crimes. Karim Sebaoui also faces charges of possessing child pornography. Cédric Grassot has been charged with possessing a pornographic image of his ex-girlfriend’s daughter.

Police found child pornography in Nicolas François’s house. The police also found Skype messages with underage girls on a fireman called Christian Lescole’s computer.

Some of the men claimed they went to the Pelicot house because of their interest in Dominique, not Gisèle 

Didier Sambuchi claimed he went to Mazan “exclusively for a homosexual relationship”. Patrick Aron said,
“I did what he asked me to do, because I was always waiting for the moment when we would be together.”

Dominique told one man he wanted to punish his wife for cheating on him

He met Jean-Marc Leloup in a supermarket car park in 2017. Dominique said he aimed to”punish his wife for cheating on him, that she was taking sleeping pills and that he had boosted the dose.”

A DJ raped Gisèle at her daughter’s holiday house

Mohamed Rafaa had previously been convicted of raping his 14-year-old daughter.

Hassan Ouamou was tried in absentia because he’s on the run

The 30-year-old is believed to have travelled to Morocco during the investigation. He told the police he has no intention of going back to France. So, he he trial for raping Gisèle Pelicot was in absentia

One man’s partner waited for him in the car

The prosecutors have requested Abdelali Dallal goes to prison for 13 years.

An illustration of the trial
(Credit: ZZIIGG/SIPA/Shutterstock)

Nizar Hamida raped Gisèle as part of his bachelor party

He went to Mazan in October 2020 ahead of his new wife arriving in France. He said, “It was to relieve the pressure, the stress, with a libertine soirée.”

One man wasn’t accused of raping Gisèle

63-year-old Jean-Pierre Marechel is the only man who wasn’t on trial for directly assaulting Gisèle Pelicot. Instead, he mimicked his “mentor” Dominique’s actions, and invited him to drug and rape his own wife a dozen times. His suggested prison sentence is 17 years.

The Pelicot children and some women’s activism groups have complained the sentences were less long than they’d hoped.

Someone was found guilty of attempted rape

Hughes Malago, a 39-year-old tiler, was tried for attempted rape as there was no video footage of penetration. The prosecutors have requested he goes to prison for 10 years.

Another was charged with sexual assault, but not rape

Joseph Cocco was found guilty of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot in his trial. He could go to prison for four years.