French rape trial: Dominique Pélicot, who allegedly let strangers rape his drugged wife, a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ character, court hears

Gisèle Pélicot, surrounded by family members, speaks to one of her lawyers at her husband's trial. Photo / AFP

WARNING: Contains content that may be triggering

A Frenchman who thought he was a “good husband” by day while allegedly enabling strangers to rape his drugged wife at night was a “Jekyll and Hyde” character, a court heard on Monday.

On the sixth day of Dominique Pélicot’s criminal trial in Avignon, the court heard details of a psychological report which said he had the “two-faced personality” of a “sex addict” and “manipulative pervert”.

It meant Pelicot, 71, acted like the split-personality character in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Hyde, the Gothic horror novel by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, the report said.

The retired electrician is facing up to 20 years in prison, along with 51 other defendants who are all accused of the aggravated rape of Gisèle Pélicot, 71.

Psychologists reported that he was “relieved to finally be arrested” in 2020, following a decade of violent abuse.

Pélicot told detectives that he considered himself a “good husband” to Gisèle Pélicot, who he married in 1971 and had three children with.

He said he was “respectful of his wife’s desires and refusals” but “also had fantasies about swinging” and “got pleasure” from seeing his wife undergo sexual acts that she normally refused.

Dominique Pélicot is accused of drugging his wife and then inviting dozens of men to assault her for almost a decade. Photo / Supplied

A psychological report submitted to the court suggested Pélicot displayed a tendency towards “paraphilia” – sexual arousal in atypical situations – and also “somnophilia” – an interest in having sex with sleeping partners.

This made him a “very caring and much-loved grandfather by day” but “a rapist at night”, psychologist Bruno Daunizeau explained in the report.

“During the day, you can be normal, and have another face at night,” said Daunizeau, prior to referencing Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde creation.

Marianne Douteau, another psychologist, told the court that Pélicot still felt his life could have carried on as normal, despite the crimes he has admitted to.

She agreed he had a “split personality” arguing “that he is a patriarch but he is also irresponsible and manipulative”.

“Behind closed doors he does not respect limits,” Douteau added.

Pélicot, who has been remanded in custody since his arrest in 2020, was considered too ill to give evidence on Monday, so will be cross-examined by prosecutors later in the week.

Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified and charged in France’s biggest rape trial.

Husband admits to decade of abuse

Pélicot has admitted to drugging his wife and inviting strangers to abuse her over a decade.

Fourteen of his co-accused have admitted to rape.

But 35 men – from all walks of life – deny that they forced themselves on Gisele Pélicot while she was unconscious, claiming that she in some way consented to libertine sex.

Lawyers defending the accused men said on Monday they would be filing legal complaints over internet users leaking their clients’ personal information and thus endangering their families.

Fifty other men, aged between 26 and 74, are also on trial for allegedly taking part.

The court proceedings – which began last week and are running until December – are open to the public at the request of the victim.

“Personal information of the accused – their identity, surname, name, profession and sometimes even pictures taken inside the courtroom – have been shared on social media, in defiance of the basic rules of our law,” said lawyer Isabelle Crepin-Dehaene, representing all their attorneys.

“Children of defendants have been singled out at school. Wives and family members have been insulted. Defendants have received malicious phone calls, with attempts to break into their home.

“From this week, their different lawyers will file around 15 legal complaints with the relevant regional prosecutors’ offices and several more will follow in the coming weeks.”