A British journalist who claims she was sexually assaulted by Gérald Marie while working undercover to expose sex crimes in the fashion industry in a BBC documentary will call for models to have their rape allegations against the French fashion mogul heard in court.
Lisa Brinkworth, who says Marie abused her in 1998 while she was working alongside journalist Donal MacIntyre in a documentary, and eight of the 72-year-old tycoon’s alleged victims will present their case for the statute of limitations in France to be extended from 20 years to MEPs this month.
The women, who call themselves Victorious Angels, claim that they are being ‘thwarted’ from seeking justice by the statute of limitations in France and insist it ‘continues to protect our abuser’.
France’s statute of limitations for prosecutions at the time stated that sexual assault had to be reported within three years, and rapes within 10 years. Though the alleged offence happened more than 20 years ago, the case in France has remained open because French lawyers argued that a BBC settlement with Marie’s Elite model agency over the documentary prevented her from speaking out sooner.
Though her case is still live, Miss Brinkworth, 55, said she would not proceed with it unless all the other victims can be heard as witnesses.
Marie, the former husband of the supermodel Linda Evangelista, has strenuously denied the claims against him.
Miss Brinkworth said: ‘We have all experienced violence at the hands of these former model agents. Having finally found our voices to speak out against their conduct and tell our stories about what happened to us decades ago, the Gérald Marie victims find ourselves thwarted by the statute of limitations in France, which continues to protect our abuser.
Lisa Brinkworth claims Gérald Marie sexually abused her in 1998 while she was working undercover (left) exposing sex crimes in the fashion industry in a BBC documentary
Documents submitted to a Paris court suggest that Marie hired a Russian hitman to murder Ms Brinkworth
‘Now we are dedicating our long-term mission to help make Europe a safer place and ensure that future victims of sexual violence have legal remedies open to them that are being denied to us.’
The conference at the European parliament is being co-ordinated by Omar Harfouch, a Lebanese businessman and politician and former Elite shareholder who has provided a witness statement against Marie to the police.
He added: ‘We will be asking for a public debate around the issue of the statute of limitations.
‘We will ask all member countries to harmonise laws that we are proposing to assist future generations of victims obtain justice.’
Miss Brinkworth alleges she was assaulted after a dinner with friends and Marie, when he pinned her down to a chair at a club. Her colleague Donal McIntyre and others witnessed the assault but she did not report it at the time because it would have threatened her investigation, she said.
In her complaint finally filed to the French legal authorities on September 20, 2020, Miss Brinkworth describes an ‘obscene atmosphere’ created by Marie, who allegedly asked her to perform a sex act on Elite executive and to ‘let me f**k you’ for money. (500 euros is mentioned in the legal papers, although France did not start using euros until 2002).
Miss Brinkworth was told: ‘No one refuses the president of Elite and it’s an honour to sleep with this man,’ according to the legal papers.
Documents submitted to a Paris court in June claimed that the BBC did not want Miss Brinkworth taking legal action.
Elite sued the BBC after it ran the allegations in the documentary it released in 1999, and in 2001 the Corporation agreed never to broadcast the programme again as part of a confidentiality agreement. Miss Brinkworth was not part of that agreement and so, according to legal documents, pressure was put on her by Elite to stay silent.
Paris prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into Marie in September 2020, after he was accused of rape and sexual assault by the 15 women. However, all of the alleged offences took place in the 1980s and 1990s, making them time barred as far as prosecutions are concerned. No charges have been brought, and Marie remains a free man.
Marie, pictured with ex-wife Linda Evangelista, has denied the allegations against him
Miss Brinkworth says she was given protection by the BBC for three years, between 1999 and 2001, and put in three safe houses, at least one of which was surrounded by electric fences.
She said she feels ‘responsibility’ to other women who have accused Marie of sexual assault and said the settlement ‘sort of halted progress’.
All the claims have now exhausted their statute of limitation under French law but Miss Brinworth’s lawyer Anne-Claire Lejeune is arguing the fact she was prevented from seeking justice at the time means the statute should be paused.
During a meeting organised in the Paris Senate in September 2021 with the other plaintiffs, Miss Brinkworth met Mr Harfouch. Mr Harfoch said he himself became a ‘target for death threats’ following his support for former Elite models who claimed they were sexually abused.
Céline Bekerman, a lawyer for Marie, said the attempt to repeal the statute of limitations had no chance of success, because it was ‘based on fanciful arguments’.
Miss Bekerman said Miss Brinkworth ‘was never a party to the agreement concluded between Elite and the BBC’, and there was therefore never anything stopping her from complaining about sexual assault in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
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