As the #MeToo Movement Crosses the Atlantic, a Famous French Director Is Charged With Rape, Sexual Assault and Violence Against Two Actresses
In the US, the #MeToo movement swept through the film industry like a wildfire, bringing some measure of justice to many victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault and other types of criminal behavior.
Now, at long last, the wave of reckoning has crossed the Atlantic and landed in France, where a well-known French film director has been handed preliminary charges of rape, sexual assault and violence.
A French judge is investigating a case against Benoît Jacquot – a director with more than 50 credits in film and television – involving female actors.
Associated Press reported:
“French actor Judith Godrèche, who alleges that Jacquot raped and physical abused her in a six-year relationship that began when she was 14 years old, has taken a lead role in kickstarting the #MeToo wave. The movement struggled for traction before she spoke out publicly earlier this year and emboldened other actors to do so.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said the judge investigating allegations against Jacquot made by actor Isild Le Besco and another actor The Associated Press is not naming handed him an array of preliminary charges on Wednesday after he was detained earlier this week for police questioning. In France, such charges are filed when a magistrate has determined there is serious and accumulated evidence to indicate that crimes may have been committed, allowing for more investigation before a decision on whether to prosecute.”
Jacquot was charged with raping Le Besco for two years, when she was a minor in the late Nineties. He was also named as a witness for the alleged rape of Le Besco by a partner a decade later.
Jacquot was charged with raping a second actress in a yearlong span in 2013 when they were in a relationship, and of alleged sexual assault and violence against her in 2018 and 2019.
In the case of the second victim, Jacquot is also charged as a witness for the alleged rape of that actress by a partner from 2014 to 2018.
“Jacquot will remain free pending further investigation but was ordered to undergo psychological treatment, the prosecutor’s office said. He also is barred from contacting his alleged victims and witnesses. He also cannot work as a director or in any capacity with minors. He also was ordered to pay bail of 25,000 euros ($27,000).
The 77-year-old Jacquot has previously denied accusations against him. In a statement that didn’t directly address the filed charges, Jacquot’s lawyer, Julia Minkowski, said the case has suffered from overexposure in the media and that the director wasn’t given access to the evidence when he was questioned by police, even though French law allows that to happen ‘in cases of flagrant violations of the presumption of innocence’.”
Just as in the US, the people involved in such allegations get cancelled, a fact that was criticized by Jacquot’s lawyer Minkowski.
“’More than a professional ban, this is a real measure of judicial cancellation, based on an embryonic investigation and before any judgment. We will obviously appeal’, she said.”
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