French man who drugged wife, invited men to rape her, also allegedly took photos of daughter sleeping
Warning: This article includes mention of rape and abuse.
The daughter of the French man who drugged his wife and invited dozens of men to rape her believes she was also drugged.
45-year-old Caroline Darian, the daughter of Dominique, 71, and Gisèle Pelicot, 72, was seen sleeping in the photos of Gisèle being assaulted.
The New York Times reported that during her testimony before the criminal court in Avignon, France, Darian said police had shown her photos that Dominique had taken while she was sleeping.
“I realized right away I was drugged in that photo,” she said.
“My life was literally turned upside down,” Darian said to the court on Friday.
Authorities found Darian's photos in a computer folder labeled, "Around my daughter, naked," according to CBS News.
Police began to investigate Dominique in September 2020 after a security guard caught him secretly filming under the skirts of three women in a shopping center.
They eventually found hundreds of photos and videos of Gisèle on his computer, visibly unconscious and mostly in the fetal position.
Authorities also found chats on the website coco.fr where Dominique recruited strangers to come to their home and rape his wife. The website has since been shut down.
Dominique admitted to giving his wife powerful tranquilizers like Temesta, an anxiety-inducing drug, from 2011 to 2020 before he and other men raped her.
The accused rapists, aged between 26 and 74, include a forklift driver, a fire brigade officer, a company boss, and a journalist.
Some were single, others married or divorced, and some were family men. Most participated just once, but some took part up to six times.
Dominique took part in the rapes, filmed them, and encouraged the other men using degrading language, according to prosecutors.
Police counted a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom were identified.
Many of them said they thought they were simply helping a libertine couple live out its fantasies, but Dominique told investigators they were all aware that his wife had been drugged without her knowledge.
The trial is expected to last until Dec. 20.
All hearings would be public, granting Gisèle her wish for "complete publicity until the end" of the court case.
Dominque has also been charged with a 1991 murder and rape, which he denies, and has admitted to a 1999 attempted rape, following DNA evidence.
