A man who claims he learned how to drug and rape his wife from Frenchman Dominique Perico, who has admitted to drugging his ex-partner and raping her for nearly a decade and arranging for dozens of strangers to assault his wife, said Wednesday that Perico deserves severe punishment.
“I’m in prison but I deserve it,” the 63-year-old said in the Avignon courtroom where Perico’s gang rape trial is taking place, terrifying France and the international community.
“What I did is terrible. I am a criminal, a rapist,” said Jean-Pierre Maréchal, a tall man with a shaved head who claims to have been supplied with tranquilizers by Perico.
Perricott, 71, has admitted to sedating his then-wife, Gisele, and rendering her unconscious before he and dozens of unknown men raped her.
Gisele Perico also testified at the Avignon court on Wednesday, saying she felt humiliated when defense lawyers suggested she may have been complicit in the incident.
“I have felt humiliated since I stepped into this courtroom,” she said during the trial of her ex-husband, who is accused along with 50 other men of raping his wife between 2011 and 2020.
“I have been called an alcoholic, and a person so drunk as to be an accomplice to Mr. Perricott,” she fumed.
Marechal is the only person involved in the case who is not accused of abusing Gisele Perico. Marechal is accused of raping or attempting to rape his 54-year-old wife, Cilia, 12 times, and Perico is accused of participating in 10 of those incidents after the two met online.
“What I did was terrible and I want to see severe punishment,” Marechal said.
“I regret my actions,” he told the court, “and I would never have done this if I had never met Mr Perricott. He was like a cousin to me.”
According to prosecutors, after the two met on the website Coco, Perico began sharing photos of his wife being abused by men he hired and described to Marechal how he had drugged her. Marechal said he initially rejected Perico’s advances to rape his wife but later changed his mind.
Prosecutors said Perricott appeared on at least three recordings documenting 12 assaults on Marechal’s wife, Cilia.
Perricott said he stopped contacting Marechal after Cilia woke up while he was in the room.
Marechal said he had a “happy life” with his wife.
Marechal told the court he was abused by his father as a child.
“My childhood was one of shame, alcohol, sex and silence,” he says. “We suffered the brunt of sexual abuse from my father.”
“My mother tried to protect us, but she got drunk,” he added.
Marechal said he had lived a “happy life” with his wife since they met when they were young, and his wife also told the court last week that they were happily married.
“I love my wife,” he said.
He lived in the southern town of Mazan, about 30 miles from the Perricott family home. The prime defendant is accused of abusing his wife in bed.
Gisele Perico has won worldwide praise for waiving her right to anonymity under French law and insisting on an open trial to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.
Frank Andrews contributed to this report.
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