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A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.