France: dozens of men arrested for raping drugged woman for ten years

A 68-year-old man was arrested in France for drugging his wife for ten years so that dozens of strangers raped her, events he recorded that led to the arrest of nearly 50 men, police announced on Wednesday.

A total of 45 suspects were identified in the investigation that began almost a year ago in Avignon (south), after the victim’s husband was arrested while recording under the skirts of women in a store.

“It is unusual to have so much evidence in a rape case. Everything is detailed, even if the victim, unconscious during the rapes, does not remember anything, ”Commissioner Jérémie Bosse Platière, of the judicial police, told AFP.

The investigated facts, revealed by the newspaper La Provence, span ten years, from 2010 to 2020.

Nine people are in provisional detention, while another 33, including the husband, went to preventive detention after being charged.

The charges brought by the prosecution range from rape and complicity in violations aggravated by the administration of a substance to alter the victim’s discernment, to invasion of privacy through the recording and dissemination of sexual images.

“The husband used strong anxiolytics to drug his wife, which he placed naked on a bed, and heated the room to prevent her from waking up,” Bosse Platière said.

This case came to light after the victim’s husband was arrested on September 12, 2020 in a store in Carpentras (south) while filming under the skirts of clients.

By examining the contents of his computer, investigators discovered videos of his unconscious wife as she was raped by men.

On the internet, they also found messages from the husband posted on libertine dating forums, in which he proposed to various people to take advantage of his wife.

“None of the authors could ignore what was happening,” insisted the commissioner. However, many only recognized the facts when they were shown the images.

The alleged rapists are between 24 and 71 years old and do not have a unique profile: temporary worker, firefighter, nurse, journalist, etc .; single, married, divorced, parents or couples.

The victim, a mother of three children, discovered the facts during the investigation and, “stunned”, decided to leave the south of France and move to live in the Paris region.