Dominique Pelicot rape trial: Husband guilty as verdicts delivered in French case that shocked world

A French court has declared the ex-husband of Gisele Pelicot guilty of aggravated rapes and all other charges against him.

A panel of five judges in France is delivering verdicts today for more 50 men charged with aggravated rape and sexual assault on Ms Pelicot in a case that has shocked the world. Dominique Pelicot, the now ex-husband of the 72-year-old grandmother was the first to receive a guilty verdict on charges of aggravated rape.

He admitted that for years he knocked his wife of 50 years out with drugs so he and strangers he recruited online could abuse her while he filmed the assaults. The appalling ordeal was inflicted on Ms Pelicot for over a decade in what she thought was a loving marriage..

Stretching over more than three months, the trial galvanized campaigners against sexual violence and spurred calls for tougher measures to stamp out rape culture.

Dominique Pelicot, also 72, and 49 other men were tried in the southern French city of Avignon for aggravated rape and attempted rape and face up to 20 years imprisonment if convicted.

The verdict for 72-year-old Dominique Pelicot was read by the lead judge of the court in Avignon, Roger Arata.