Footage has emerged showing the disturbing moment police finally caught up with Dominique Pélicot – dubbed the ‘Monster of Avignon’ after admitting he drugged and then allowed multiple strangers to rape his wife – when he was caught ‘upskirting’.
The 71-year-old is currently on trial at the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon, where he is one of 51 defendants.
Paris Match magazine has published disturbing images of Pélicot being caught taking videos of women under their skirts in a supermarket in Carpentras, south-eastern France.
Filmed on September 12, 2020, the footage shows the white-haired grandfather wearing a mask as he places a camera below the skirts of victims picked at random in the Leclerc store.
‘No, no, no,’ is a woman’s reaction when Pélicot is confronted by a security guard, who says ‘four clients’ have made a complaint.
Footage has emerged showing Dominique Pélicot – dubbed the ‘Monster of Avignon’ – being caught by supermarket security guards ‘upskirting’ female shoppers. The caption reads: ‘We were following him on camera, that’s four times!’
Pélicot was confronted by a security guard during the incident on September 12, 2020. The caption reads: ‘He was filming under your dress’
The caption relates how Pélicot had been apprehended after being caught filming female ‘customers in a supermarket in Carpentras’
Pélicot, dressed in red shorts and a grey T-shirt, is then told to ‘not move’ because the police are on their way.
The grandfather is told he is ‘disgusting’ and that the women would be asked to testify against him to the authorities.
Pélicot is also ordered not to erase the videos until police arrive – ensuring that there is sufficient evidence for a prosecution.
He was originally fined €100 – the equivalent of around £85 – for upskirting, as a part of a plea-bargaining process, but then detectives found other incriminating images on his devices.
It was while in custody that Pélicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer at his home in Mazan, near Avignon, which contained a file called ‘Abuses’.
Gisele Pelicot arriving at court to her husband’s trial in Avignon. Pelicot has been accused of drugging and then allowing multiple strangers to rape his wife between 2011 and 2020
It classified the nickname and telephone numbers of alleged rapists, together with some 3,800 photos and videos of his wife Gisèle Pélicot, now also 71, being raped, between 2011 and 2020.
Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified.
Pélicot’s sex ring involved advertising for ‘sex partners’ on an online forum called ‘Without Her Knowing’ on the coco.fr site, which has since been shut down.
Of the 83 men involved, 51 aged between 26 and 73 were identified and arrested by the police.
Caroline, 45, told the Avignon court on Friday how she believed her father had drugged her too, after police showed her photos of her lying unconscious on a bed in her mother’s underwear
Caroline and her two brothers David and Florian had enjoyed an idyllic childhood and for most of their lives were blessed with a stable and happy family life
Pélicot is said to have sedated his wife by putting Temesta – a powerful anxiolytic – into her evening dinner.
Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.
Fourteen of the other defendants have admitted rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing.
Last week, Pélicot’s legal team insisted he was not well enough to give evidence because of abdominal pain and a suspected bladder infection.
He briefly appeared in court on Wednesday morning, but defence barrister Beatrice Zavarro confirmed on Thursday that he was ‘still ill’ and would not be showing up.
Pélicot has been vomiting and fainting in his prison cell, where he has been on remand since 2020, in between visits to hospital for treatment and tests.
Ms Zavarro’s submissions were accepted by Roger Arata, the trial judge, who said: ‘He requires medical treatment and will be unable to attend court for the rest of this week at least.’
Mr Pélicot’s own daughter, Caroline Darian, 46, described him in court as ‘one of the greatest sexual predators’ of recent years.
Pélicot – dubbed the ‘Monster of Avignon’ – is said to have sedated his wife by putting Temesta – a powerful anxiolytic – into her evening dinner
She said he secretly photographed her in the nude, along with her two sister-in-laws.
In a separate case, Pélicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991.
He has admitted one attempted rape in 1999, after DNA testing proved a case against him.
The Avignon aggravated rape case is due to last until December 21.
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