(5 Jul 2024)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berlin – 17 February 2018
1. Various of director Benoît Jacquot posing for photos
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Venice, Italy – 30 August 2014
2. Wide of Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni and director Benoît Jacquot
3. Close of Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni and director Benoît Jacquot
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cannes, France , 24 May 2017
4. Tilt up Izia Higelin and Jacques Doillon
5. Wide of cast posing for photographers on steps (l-r) Izia Higelin, Jacques Doillon, Vincent Lindon and Severine Caneelez
STORYLINE:
A prominent French film director has been handed preliminary charges of rape, sexual assault and violence by a French judge investigating a case involving female actors, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Thursday.
Benoît Jacquot, who has more than 50 director credits in film and television, has become one of the most prominent figures in a belated reckoning within the French movie industry and beyond over sexual violence and physical abuse.
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.
The AP does not normally identify sexual assault victims. Le Besco, 41, has previously spoken publicly on French television and in other media and in a book about her relationship with the director that started when she was a teenager and who is 35 years older than her.
A prosecutor’s office statement said Jacquot was charged for the alleged rape of Le Besco when she was a minor, over a two-year span from 1998. Jacquot was also named as an assisted witness, a special status under French law, for the alleged rape of Le Besco by a partner over a 10-month span in 2007.
The AP wasn’t able to confirm that the other actor named by the Paris prosecutor’s office as being another alleged rape victim of Jacquot’s consents to being identified publicly. The actor’s lawyer, Margot Pugliese, didn’t immediately respond to written and phoned requests for comment.
The prosecutor’s office said Jacquot was charged with raping the actor in a yearlong span in 2013 when they were in a relationship. He was also handed charges for the alleged sexual assault of the actor when they were still together in 2018 and of alleged violence against her in 2018 and 2019.
Jacquot was also named as an assisted witness for the alleged rape of that actor by a partner from 2014 to 2018, the prosecutor’s office said.
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).
She condemned the ban preventing Jacquot from working as a director, which also includes restrictions on his public appearances.
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