PARIS – French movie mogul Gerard Depardieu was found guilty Tuesday of sexually assaulting two women while filming “Green Waves.”
A Paris court sentenced the 76-year-old actor to 18 months' suspended jail and added him to the sex offenders' registry. He will avoid jail if he does not commit further crimes.
At the center of the case are two women – a set designer named Amelie K. and another woman known by the pseudonym Sarah, aged 54 and 34 respectively.
“I don't understand why I should enjoy groping a woman, her butt or her breasts. I'm not some kind of pervert on the subway,” he said in court, denying the charges during his trial.
He also said he did not fully understand the definition of sexual assault, while his lawyer called the two women “liars.”
The Paris court based its decision on the consistency and coherence of the women's testimony, noting that “Depardieu's statements changed significantly between his arrest by the police and the hearing.”
Depardieu, who did not appear at the hearing, plans to appeal the verdict, his lawyer said.
Speaking outside the courtroom, Amelie K. said she was “very moved” and “very satisfied.”
“I hope this will put an end to impunity for film industry figures,” lawyer Amelie K. said at the end of the hearing, calling on the film world to “think about Depardieu's victims” during the Cannes Film Festival, which opens on Tuesday.
In recent years, Depardieu has been accused of sexual assault by about twenty women, although several cases have been dropped due to the statute of limitations.
It is unlikely that this will be Depardieu's last court appearance, as on August 14, the Paris prosecutor's office requested that his case be transferred to criminal court for the rape and sexual assault of French actress Charlotte Arnoux.
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