French sex offender Pelicot says man who abused his ex-wife knew she was asleep

Gisele Pelicot leaves the appeals court after the hearing in the case of a man challenging his conviction, less than a year after the landmark verdict in a drugging and rape trial that shook France, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, in Nimes, southern France. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

NIMES, France -- Dominique Pelicot, one of France’s worst sex offenders, said Tuesday the only man appealing his conviction for sexually abusing Pelicot’s ex-wife, knew she would be asleep and even asked for help assaulting her.

Husamettin Dogan is seeking to overturn his conviction for raping Gisele Pelicot, whose ex-husband had for over a decade recruited strangers to abuse her while she was drugged.

“I never forced anyone, they never needed me,” Dominique Pelicot, 72, said in court after being extracted from prison to testify on the second day of the trial in the southern city of Nimes.

He said that Dogan knew from the start that Dominique Pelicot was looking for someone “to abuse (his) wife while she was asleep.”

Dogan protests his innocence, saying he was not a “rapist” and insisting he thought he was participating in a libertine couple’s sexual game.

“I never said that,” Dominique Pelicot said.

Dogan visited the couple’s home on June 28, 2019. He said he only realized that something was wrong when he heard the woman snoring.

But Dominique Pelicot said that Dogan had even asked him to lift his inert wife’s leg to “help him penetrate her from the side.”

“I have no interest in speaking ill of anyone, except to tell the truth,” he added.

In December, Dogan was one of 50 men found guilty of sexual abuse at Dominique Pelicot’s invitation and sentenced to nine years in prison.

During the first trial, which lasted for nearly four months last year, Gisele Pelicot, 72, waived her anonymity, becoming an international icon and a symbol in the fight against sexual violence.

Resources for sexual assault survivors in Canada to include in relevant articles:

If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:

• Call 911 if you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety.
• The Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres' website has a comprehensive list of sexual assault centres in Canada that offer information, advocacy and counselling. 
• The Ending Violence Association of Canada‘s website has links to helplines, support services and locations across Canada that offer sexual assault kits.
• Indian Residential School Survivors Society crisis lines: [phone] or [phone] (24/7)
• Toronto Rape Crisis Centre crisis line: [phone] (24/7)
• Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: [phone] (24/7)
• Trans Lifeline: [phone]
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 988 (24/7)
• Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre for current and former Canadian Armed Forces members: [phone]
• Read about your rights as a victim on the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime website.