The person charged in France’s mass rape trial says sorry to Gisele Pelicot

During court on Thursday, one of the more than 50 men accused of raping Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot said he was sorry for what he did. The case has shocked people around the world.

Lionel Rodriguez is one of only a few accused who has admitted to raping Pelicot. Over the course of almost a decade, dozens of people abused her while drugs her husband Dominique gave her knocked her out without her knowing.

Dominique Pelicot found the strangers online and called them to his family’s house to rape his wife. On Monday, he admitted to his crimes in court, saying, “I am a rapist, just like the others (the accused) in this room.”

Rodriguez, who is 44 years old and a father of three, told Gisele Pelicot, who is 72 years old, on Thursday, “I’m sorry, I can only imagine the nightmare you’ve lived through… and I am part of this nightmare.” It’s true that my sorry won’t change what happened, but I still wanted to say it.

France as a whole has held protests in support of Gisele Pelicot, who wanted the hearing to be open to the public so that the abuse could be seen.

International attention was drawn to the trial because it showed that dozens of men, aged 26 to 74, from all walks of life, could rape an unconscious woman. The trial became a sign of how common sexual violence is.

Rodriguez told the police that he had raped Gisele Pelicot while they were looking into it. He said again in court on Thursday that he didn’t mean to rape her but now knows he did.

“If I had known she wasn’t aware (of what would happen) I wouldn’t have gone there,” he added. “I should have made sure she was okay with it first.” I didn’t talk to her, so I couldn’t get her permission. I’m sorry for what I did.

“I never told myself: I will rape that woman,” he stated. “I’m guilty of rape,” he said, adding that he should have left when he saw she was asleep and that not saying anything was weak.

He also tried to put some of the blame on Dominique Pelicot by telling the court that she had only done what her husband told her to do.