One of the men accused of raping Gisele Pelicot said he only went to their house as he ‘had nothing else to do’ on New Years Eve.
Father-of-two Andy Rodriguez is one of the 51 men standing trial for the rape of Gisele Pelicot, who was secretly drugged by her husband Dominique over a period of ten years.
Ms Pelicot, who has no recollection’ of the years of abuse she suffered, has waived her right to anonymity as she faces her alleged attackers in order to to shift the ‘shame’ back onto the accused, her legal team have said.
Rodriguez, 37, admits having sex with Ms Pelicot but denies rape, like many of the other accused who assumed it was part of a ‘consenting scenario’ between the pair.
Farm worker Rodriguez told the court in Avignon he has been an ‘alcoholic since 14 and a regular user of cocaine’, and met Mr Pelicot on New Years Eve 2018 at his house in Mazan.
(Picture: Reuters)
‘I was in a bar once when a man approached me and said ‘My wife likes you, would you like to sleep with her while I watch?’,’ he told the court.
‘I agreed and it happened that same night, with Pelicot I met him New Year’s Eve as I had nothing else to do.
‘I had fallen out with my brothers because of my drinking and drug habit so I went to Pelicot’s house.
‘I never had any intention of raping Mrs Pelicot.’
Rodriguez was 31 years old at the time, and married with two children, the court heard.
‘I’d had a bath, I’d put aftershave on, I’d got ready. An hour after exchanging messages on Coco.fr (swinging site) I was at his house,’ he continued.
Speaking in court last week, Ms Pelicot maintained that she was not complicit with her ex-husband, as some of the defendants claimed.
‘Not for a second did I give my consent to Mr Pélicot, nor to these men who are behind me.
‘Since I arrived in this courtroom, I have been humiliated. I have been called an alcoholic, an accomplice of Mr Pélicot.
‘I have heard everything. You have to have a degree of patience to endure everything I have to hear.
‘For me, they are degenerates.’
Police have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, of which only 51 have been identified.
The alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.
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