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00:00Some of these men are gardeners, nurses, firefighters or engineers.
00:05Others retired or volunteers, even fathers, aged between 26 and 73.
00:11And they are all accused of raping Gisele Pellicot at the invitation of her then-husband, Dominique Pellicot,
00:18in their home in southeastern France between 2011 and 2020.
00:24These are people who are not delinquents at all,
00:28who for the most part have clean criminal records and had normal family lives and professional activities.
00:34And they found themselves involved in this case, which is obviously a very important one.
00:4035 of the 50 co-defendants maintain they are not guilty.
00:44Some claim they too are victims manipulated by the main defendant, Dominique Pellicot,
00:49even saying they thought his wife was on board, despite never seeking consent from her directly.
00:55But a key testimony on Tuesday could prove lethal to their case.
00:59Finally addressing the court, Dominique Pellicot himself said explicitly
01:03that they all knew they were taking part in the abuse and that they cannot claim the contrary.
01:08The only one not accused of directly abusing Gisele Pellicot is a man called Jean-Pierre M.
01:14Instead, he has admitted to copying the crime and replicating it against his own wife to rape her,
01:20sometimes with Dominique Pellicot involved after the pair met online.
01:24My client is very malleable and very naive.
01:27That's what the reports show.
01:29Well, quite simply, he walked into this.
01:31He doesn't have the personality to say no.
01:33While the stories of these men may vary, they all share one thing in common.
01:37They are now at the centre of this disturbing case
01:40that is exposing a reality of sexual violence to France and to the world.