- Dominique P. and another 50 men all face a maximum of 20 years behind bars
- The septuagenarian allegedly ran a massive rape ring out of his home in France
- He sedated his wife by slipping a powerful anxiolytic drug into her dinner
A grandfather who allegedly drugged his wife so that 83 strangers he met online could rape her over a ten-year period will be tried in a converted exhibition centre because of the sheer number of men accused of raping her.
Septuagenarian Dominique P. and another 50 men all face a maximum of 20 years behind bars if they are found guilty their trial in the Parc des Expositions in Avignon, southern France, next September.
Dominique P. is accused of orchestrating the sick rape ring, using an online forum called ‘Without Her Knowing’ to invite the men, aged between 25 and 72, round to his home in Mazan, near Avignon, and film them attacking his wife while she was drugged between 2011 and 2020.
Dominique is said to have sedated his wife by putting tablets of Temesta – a powerful anxiolytic – into her evening dinner.
He then invited strangers from the online forum into the couple’s bedroom, so that his wife could be raped while unconscious.
Prosecution documents allege that husband Dominique P. urged his wife’s rapists not to wear condoms.
According to his daughter, Caroline Darian, who has since published a book about the crimes, he had a tried and tested system in place to make sure that his wife didn’t wake up during any of the rapes.
The alleged ringleader told the men to park their cars far away from the house and undress in the kitchen.
The were told not to wear cologne or to smoke, and had to warm their hands up on a radiator so as not to wake his wife up.
A doctor since revealed the woman in her sixties had contracted four venereal diseases and suffered gynaecological problems.
Investigators only learned about the horror in 2020, when Dominique was arrested in a supermarket in Carpentras for filming up the skirts of other customers.
When police searched his camera phone, and equipment kept at his home, they found all of the abuse images.
Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.
A fireman accused of raping Françoise wore his uniform during the attack, one video shows.
The fireman’s computer contained 728 images of children being sexually abused, say prosecutors.
Some of his accomplices claimed they had no idea his wife was not consensual while one denied it was rape, saying: ‘It’s his wife, he does what he likes with her.’
Dominique has also been charged with raping and murdering Sophie Narme, a 23-year-old estate agent who was found dead in Paris in 1991.
A second estate agent, referred to only as E., said she had been attacked in Paris eight years later, and investigative sources say an e-fit of the suspect in both cases ‘bears a strong resemblance’ to Dominique.
The suspect admits attacking E., but denies having anything to do with the murder of Ms Narme. He has yet to plea over the rape charges.
Evidence is said to show how the couple’s eldest daughter was also filmed unconscious in her underwear, and alleged abuses against other family members.
Grandchildren allege the suspect regularly ‘played doctor’ with them, and would buy them toys for undressing, and Dominique is said to have filmed his daughters-in-law in the bathroom using a hidden camera, sharing the images online.
In the case involving his wife, he was ultimately caught in 2020 after he was found using a pen with a hidden camera to spy on women in changing rooms in Carpentras, leading police to search his house.
In his videos, Dominique called his wife a ‘slut’ hundreds of times, but insisted he meant it affectionately.
He also told investigating magistrates he loves his ‘saint’ wife.
His lawyer added that Françoise was ‘his first love, indeed the only love of his life’.
The father-of-three, in his early 70s, is currently in prison in Avignon charged with ‘aggravated rape’ and the administration of drugs which were used to sedate his wife.
When his wife was informed of the secret tapes, she broke down and became suicidal, saying: ‘I was his thing,’ before filing for divorce.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
