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"I lived with a man who I would've never imagined could be capable of
this. I trusted him completely," Gis�le P�licot said as her husband
Dominique appeared in court on Sept. 17

Dominique P�licot appeared in court in Avignon, France on Tuesday, Sept.
17, where he admitted to the charges against him

The 71-year-old has been accused of drugging his wife Gis�le and inviting
dozens of men to rape her over the course of nearly a decade

"I am a rapist like the others in this room," he said at Tuesday's
hearing, per the BBC and local media outlets

The French man accused of drugging his wife and inviting dozens of men to
rape her over the course of almost a decade has admitted to the charges
against him, according to reports.

On Tuesday, Sept. 17, Dominique P�licot appeared in court in Avignon,
France and said in his first testimony: "I am a rapist like the others in
this room," per the BBC and French outlets Le Parisien and France 24.

According to the BBC, 15 of the 50 defendants at the trial admitted to
rape, while most just claimed they'd participated in sexual acts.

"They all knew, they cannot say the contrary," Dominique, 71, told the
court, per the outlet.

"They all knew her condition before they came, they knew everything, they
can't say otherwise," Dominique added, claiming that his wife "did not
deserve this," according to Le Parisien.

"Even if it's paradoxical, I never considered my wife as an object,
unfortunately, the videos show the opposite," he said, per the outlet,
before asking his family to forgive him: "I regret what I did, I ask for
forgiveness, even if it is not forgivable."

Gis�le's husband has been accused of inviting multiple men � including
firefighters, masons, gardeners, prison guards, soldiers and journalists,
now between the ages of 26 and 73 years old � to have sex with her while
she was unconscious, Le Parisien previously reported.

U.K. newspaper The Times reported that authorities believe a total of 92
rapes had been committed by 83 men through the years.

While speaking in court on Tuesday, Dominique said he "was very happy"
with his wife of 50 years, per the BBC.

"It is difficult for me to listen to this. For 50 years, I lived with a
man who I would've never imagined could be capable of this. I trusted him
completely," Gis�le responded, according to the outlet.

Dominique also said he "loved [his wife] immensely," per the publication.
"I still do," he added.

"I loved her well for 40 years and badly for 10," Dominique told the
trial, appearing to reference the time he'd spent allegedly abusing her.

Daughter of French Man Who Arranged Rapes of Wife Recounts Being Shown
Photos of Herself by Cops

On Sept. 5, Gis�le admitted in court that she'd had a two-year affair with
a friend after she and Dominique had been married for 14 years, per U.K.
newspaper The Telegraph.

She said at the time that her husband �reacted very badly," according to
the outlet, adding that she'd "only ever had two men in my bed."

During Tuesday's hearing, Dominique said he considered suicide after
finding out about the affair, according to the BBC.

As previously reported by PEOPLE, Gis�le was unaware of the abuse before
police discovered thousands of pictures and videos on Dominique's computer
in 2020. The findings came amid accusations that he had filmed up three
women's skirts in a supermarket, The Times reported. The timeline of Mrs.
P�licot's abuse is said to date back to 2011.

Dominique's court appearance on Tuesday comes after he was taken to the
hospital amid some health problems a week prior on Tuesday, Sept. 10;
which was the day he was originally set to be cross-examined for the first
time.

During the latest hearing, Dominique was also questioned by one of his
wife's lawyers, St�phane Babonneau, on why he didn't stop the abuse, even
after she became �convinced� she had Alzheimer�s while suffering from
memory loss.

"I tried to stop, but my addiction was stronger, the need was growing," he
said, according to the BBC. "I was trying to reassure her, I betrayed her
trust. I should've stopped sooner, in fact I should've never started at
all."

U.K. newspaper The Guardian reported that Dominique spoke about his
traumatic childhood during the trial, which included alleging that he'd
been raped at age 9 by a nurse in a hospital and being forced to witness
and take part in a group-rape of a woman when he was 14.

https://people.com/man-drugged-wife-invited-men-rape-her-confesses-to-
crimes-court-8713733