Dominique Pelicot was jailed for 20 years after drugging his ex-wife Gisèle, raping her and inviting dozens of strangers to abuse her for almost a decade.

The man, who is 72, was found guilty of all charges by a judge in Avignon in the south of France, and cried in court as he was sentenced to the maximum term.

He was tried with 50 other men - all of whom were found guilty of at least one charge, although their prison terms were less than what prosecutors had sought.

Gisèle and her children looked emotionless while the verdicts were read out, occasionally looking at the defendants and resting their heads against the wall.

The convictions bring to an end France's biggest ever rape trial, which has shocked the country and the world over three months.

Speaking outside court after the verdicts with her family on both sides, Gisèle Pelicot, 72, said the trial had been "very difficult".

But she said she "never regretted" the decision to make the trial public "so that society could see what was happening".

Gisèle Pelicot's decision to waive her automatic right to anonymity was very unusual, and meant that this trial was held in full view of the public. French and global media followed the case with increasing interest and hundreds of journalists were present in court on Thursday.

Gisèle herself was present almost every day of the trial, appearing in the same courtroom as her husband of 50 years, from whom she is now divorced.

Gisèle also thanked her supporters "deeply" and said she had "confidence" that there would be a "better future" where men and women can live with mutual respect.

In court on Thursday, Dominique Pelicot - who had already admitted his crimes - was found guilty of aggravated rape.

He was also found guilty of aggravated attempted rape by the wife of one of his co-accused, Jean-Pierre Marechal. Marechal - who has been described as Dominique's "disciple" as he drugged and raped his own wife for years and invited Dominque to do the same - was jailed for 12 years.

Dominique Pelicot was also found guilty of taking indecent photographs of his daughter, Caroline Darian, and her daughters-in-law, Aurore and Celine.

Caroline - who was in court on Thursday - previously told the trial that she felt she was the "forgotten victim" because, unlike her mother's case, there was no record of the abuse which she is sure was done to her. Dominique denied drugging and abusing his daughter.

After the verdicts, Dominique's lawyer said her client was "somewhat disappointed" by his sentence and would consider whether to appeal. He has 10 days to decide whether to do so.

Of the 50 co-defendants, 46 were found guilty of rape, two guilty of rape, and two guilty of sexual assault. Several of them have already spent several years in prison because they were arrested when the police did their initial investigation in 2021, so they will be walking out fairly soon.

Most of the men on trial denied that what they did was rape.

They argued that they did not realize that Gisèle Pelicot was unconscious and therefore "did not know" that they were raping her - an argument that has sparked a national debate over France's legal definition of rape.

Their prison terms range from three to 15 years - less than prosecutors had requested.

In a statement to the AFP news agency, Pelicot's children said they were "disappointed" by the "low sentences".

For nearly ten years from 2011, Dominique Pelicot drugged and raped his ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot, and recruited dozens of men online to have sex with her while she was naked. awareness

His crimes were discovered in 2020, when police arrested him on a separate charge of filming up women's skirts in a supermarket.

Police seized his devices and found thousands of videos on his laptop, with evidence of around 200 rapes.

Investigators used the videos to track down the suspect, although they were unable to identify an additional 21 men.

Dominique Pelicot admitted the charges in 2020.

The trial started a debate on whether the question of consent should be added to the French legal definition of rape, as is the case in other European countries.

Rape in France is currently defined as "any act of sexual penetration against another person by violence, restraint, threat or surprise" - meaning that prosecutors must prove that they intend to force.

Many of the defendants argued that they did not understand that Gisèle Pelicot had not agreed, saying that they had been "misled" by Dominique Pelicot, believing that they were going to the house of a couple for three in which there was a fantasy that the woman was sleeping.

The trial also shed light on the issue of chemical injection - a drug-induced sexual assault.

Most of the 50 men all come from towns and villages within a 50km (30 mile) radius of the Pelicots' home town of Mazan.

them including firefighters, truck drivers, soldiers, a journalist and a DJand were described by defense lawyers as "ordinary people" - earning them the nickname Monsieur-Tout-Le-Monde (Mr Everyman).

The trial also brought attention to sexual violence against women in France, with many praising Gisèle Pelicot for her bravery in opening the full details of the case to the public.

She previously said she was determined to "swap sides of shame" from the victim to the rapist - a phrase repeated and used by her supporters.

Gisèle's lawyer, Stéphane Babonneau, told the BBC earlier that his client did not want to be considered an icon.

But Gisèle's message to women was that "they have a strength within them that they can't even imagine and that they have to trust themselves," he said.

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