Gisele Pelicot Update: Lone Man Who Appealed Rape Conviction Gets Longer Jail Term

A French appeals court rejected the appeal filed by a man who was found guilty of aggravated rape of Gisele Pelicot last year, and prolonged his prison sentence by one year, France Info reported on Thursday.

The 44-year-old construction worker named Husamettin Dogan had been originally sentenced to nine years in prison during the first drugging-and-rape trial that took place last year.

The original proceeding shocked France and the rest of the world, while Pelicot turned into a worldwide icon for the fight against sexual violence.

The appeals jury, which determined the results of the increased sentence, is made up of three judges and several regular civilians, contrasting with the five original judges present during the first trial.

Controversial Pelicot Case

In 2024, Gisele filed numerous aggravated rape, attempted rape and sexual assault cases against her husband, Dominique Pelicot and fifty other men in Avignon, France. Unlike most victims of sexual crimes, Gisele waived her right to anonymity and allowed the public to be updated on the trial.

For nine years, Dominique repeatedly drugged and raped Gisele and invited strangers to do the same while she was unconscious.

The victim was not aware of the abuses against her until a police investigation uncovered a series of images and videos taken during the crimes, while Dominique was being investigated for taking upskirt photos of random women in a supermarket.

Dominique and fifty others were convicted of the crime. Gisele's husband received the maximum prison term of 20 years, and was also guilty of taking indecent photographs of his daughter and two daughters-in-law. He was also found guilty of raping the wife of one of the co-defendants named Jean-Pierre Marechal, also charged and convicted for drugging and raping his own wife.

Gisele's decision to waive her right to be anonymous and her determination to have a public trial gained attention and admiration worldwide. It also opened the discussions to drug-facilitated sexual assaults and consent.

Dogan's Appeal

Dogan was one of the 50 other men convicted of drugging and raping Gisele during her unconscious state. He was the only one who opted to appeal the verdict after the 16 others backed out.

The proceedings for his appeal began on Monday, when nine civilians and three magistrates heard and processed the gruelling accounts of Gisele's case from the victim, lawyers, police investigators, psychologists, and the convicted sexual offenders.

Both Dominique and Dogan denied their crimes.

The jury saw 14 videos of Dogan's heinous sexual assault against Gisele, where he violated her while in deep sleep. At the end of the video, Dogan immediately said that he did not commit rape, but he was trapped by Dominique into what he believed was a sex game.

'These were not sex scenes — they were rape scenes,' Gisele shouted on Wednesday, moments after Dogan testified as reported by Courthouse News. 'You call yourself a victim — a victim of what? The only victim in this room is me. ... You are not a victim of Mr. Pelicot; take responsibility for your actions and stop hiding behind your cowardice.'

The jury still found Dogan guilty of all charges and added another year to his jail term based on the evidence presented in court.