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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.