Her daughter Caroline has personally dedicated herself to drugging rape victims since the Pellicote trial in Avignon. A fringe phenomenon? Not at all, she says in a forthcoming book in German.
Stefan Brändle, Paris/ch media
“You lie!” the 45-year-old woman's screams echoed throughout the room before she stood up and left the hearing room at the Avignon courthouse in tears. Caroline Darien could no longer bear her father's questioning. He completely denies that he ever assaulted his daughter – just as he raped his wife Gisele. Dominique Pelicot claimed at the start of his trial in September that he took nude photos of the girl but “never touched her”.
Caroline Darien (left), daughter of Giselle Pellicot (centre), leaves the Avignon criminal court with her brother Florian (right).Image: trapezoid
He is accused of drugging his wife for years without her knowledge and having dozens of other men rape her. Police found more than 20,000 photos and videos on his computer.
Two of the photos, labeled “Around my naked daughter,” show a ten-year-old girl sleeping in her underwear. Caroline Darien recognized herself, but not her sleeping form. And her underwear – someone must have put it on her. Caroline told the court she was a light sleeper and would wake up when she heard noises.
Dominic Pelicot gave information in court through a microphone inside a glass cage.Image: trapezoid
When the defendant in the glass cage replied that these were normal family photos, the daughter jumped out of her chair. She said there was “no doubt” that he had also abused her. That would be incest. But the evidence is weak. Forensic psychologists made it clear that daughters especially have trouble processing aggressive behavior in situations of uncertainty.
Dislike of father
However, there is no denying the nightmares and sleepless nights. And there's anger: Caroline Darian is married with a ten-year-old son and makes no secret of her disgust for his father. During the lengthy trial, she sat restlessly between the two brothers. Time and again, she cast angry glances at the man she called only “the producer.”
While her mother silently and stoically listened to her ex-husband's explanations, Caroline accused him of lying “as printed” and manipulating the court, just as he had betrayed his family for years.
Giselle Pelicot.Image: trapezoid
Two years ago, Caroline Darian wrote in a book about the trial that half the world is now watching: Not Just Dominique Pelicot (71) How to offer his literally drugged wife to strangers for sexual abuse at night via internet chat rooms. But after receiving the first call to the police, her family slowly came to terms with what was incomprehensible, even unimaginable.
The book, titled How I Stopped Calling You Dad, is scheduled to be published in German in spring 2025 and bears witness to the shock and anguish of a horrific sex offender emerging behind the back of a much-loved father.
Even today, the family feels “like we're in the middle of a tsunami,” Darian wrote this week on her Instagram account, which she maintains for the same reason she wrote her book: “I want to help All the women and children affected by the tsunami were overwhelmed by sexual violence. I wanted to use my description to sound the alarm and show how widespread the plague of 'chemical conquest' is.”
In France, this is the name given to sexual abuse that occurs after taking party drugs such as sleeping pills or GHB. In 2022, France received 1,229 reports; according to experts, the number of unreported cases has increased at least tenfold.
“How I Stopped Calling You Dad”: a book title by Caroline Darian.
Caroline Darian also addresses victims directly in her book: “If you experience frequent memory loss, that must be a sign for you. Don't hesitate to get a toxicology test.” She listed other symptoms: lethargy, not remembering sex but may remember the strange taste of coffee; the surprise of wearing different clothes than the day before or spending a lot of money.
Nursing home accommodation troubled after trial
The authors estimate that most women think such a thing will never happen to them. But the perpetrators do not appear to be dangerous psychopaths, but like other rapists, they mostly operate within their own families or circles of acquaintances.
Some cases are making headlines today. The director of the famous think tank “Institut Montaigne” was sentenced to one year of probation for putting drugs in the drink of a subordinate (who was also his former sister-in-law). Next Monday, another criminal investigation will open in Paris against French senator Joel Guériot, who invited another centrist lawmaker to his office and poured Ecstasy into her cup.
She finally got into a taxi. Several parliamentarians recently submitted a legislative proposal under which social security should replace toxicology tests, which cost almost a thousand euros.
A year ago, Caroline Darian founded the group “M'endors pas” (“Don't let me sleep”). Through this and her critically acclaimed book, she laid an invaluable foundation for public perception of the Pellicott trial. However, in her new Instagram entry, she emphasized that she is in no way “Wonder Woman” (Superwoman).
“My mother, brother and I just want to maintain our dignity in court and in front of the cameras,” she wrote, adding that she would go to a nursing home for a few days. After a break in the current trial, she wants to prepare there for court hearings in the second half of the year, which are due to last until December. and “being able to confront one of the worst sexual predators of the last 20 or 30 years.” That was her father.
(aargauerzeitung.ch)
