Dominique Pelicot sentenced to 20 years in prison in historic French rape trial

Dominique Pelicot has been found guilty on all charges after a historic rape trial that saw the victim, his wife Gisèle Pelicot, elevated to the status of feminist hero.

A court sentenced him to a maximum of 20 years in prison for charges of aggravated rape and attempted rape.

Pelicot pleaded guilty to drugging and raping his wife while unconscious for nearly a decade, inviting other men he had met online to their house to do the same.

Judges also decided all other defendants who participated in Dominique Pelicot's scheme — a total of 51 standing trial — were guilty of at least one charge.

Speaking outside the court house to reporters, Gisèle Pelicot said the ordeal had been "very difficult." She also expressed support for other victims of sexual violence. “We share the same fight,” she added.

She said that she had her grandchildren in mind as she endured the more than three months of hearings, saying: “It’s also for them that I led this fight.”

Dominique Pelicot's lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, said that she would weigh a possible appeal, but also expressed hope that Gisèle Pelicot would find solace in the court's rulings.

“I wanted Mrs Pelicot to be able to emerge from these hearings in peace, and I think that the verdicts will contribute to this relief for Mrs Pelicot," she said.

Of the 50 accused of rape, just one was acquitted, but even he was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault. Another man was also found guilty on the sexual assault charge that he was tried for, meaning all 51 of the defendants were found guilty in one way or another.

Prosecutors had asked that Dominique Pelicot get the maximum penalty of 20 years and for sentences of 10 to 18 years for the others tried for rape.

But the court was more lenient than