What to Know About the France Rape Trial of 51 Men

Dominique Pelicot was given the maximum sentence, 20 years, on Thursday for raping his wife, Gisèle, after he admitted to drugging her and inviting other men to join him in violating her over nearly a decade.

The monthslong case has riveted and stunned France. It also transformed how the nation discusses sexual violence and turned Ms. Pelicot, who has since divorced her husband, into a feminist hero for pushing to make the trial public.

The 50 other defendants were all found guilty, most of them of raping Ms. Pelicot. The head judge, Roger Arata, read out the guilty verdicts, one after the other, to a packed courtroom in Avignon, in southern France.

Here’s what to know about the trial.

What is the case about?

Dominique Pelicot, 72, is a retired real estate agent and salesman who until his arrest lived in Mazan, a city in southeastern France with a population of 6,300.

In 2020, police began investigating Mr. Pelicot after three women reported him trying to film up their skirts in a supermarket. During the investigation, they found many thousands of photographs and videos of rapes and sexual abuse on his computer and other electronic devices.

Many of the videos and photos showed Ms. Pelicot unconscious, being sexually penetrated by dozens of men. A couple of pictures showed their daughter Caroline sleeping. She said she does not own the lingerie she was wearing in the pictures, and that she never sleeps in that position. The couple’s daughter-in-law and former daughter-in-law also appeared on a handful of pictures taken without their knowledge while undressing in the bathroom. The three women were also plaintiffs in the trial, and Mr. Pelicot was additionally convicted of taking and distributing their photographs.