French Director Charged With Raping 2 Women

Actress says Benoit Jacquot groomed her when she was 16, he was 52
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 5, 2024 5:41 AM CDT
French Director Charged With Raping 2 Women
Judith Godreche, center, waves during a gathering at Republique plaza in a protest against the far-right, Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in Paris.   (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)

French film director Benoit Jacquot has been charged with rape and banned from directing minors or having any other contact with them. The 77-year-old was charged Wednesday with raping actresses Julia Roy, 34, and Isild Le Besco, 41, years ago, the New York Times reports. Jacquot was charged with raping Roy in 2013 and Le Besco between 1998 and 2000, when she turned 18, per the Times. Le Besco and a third woman, Judith Godreche, have said they were raped during abusive relationships with Jacquot that started when they were underage. Roy has also said she was in an abusive relationship with the director.

Jacquot and another director, 80-year-old Jacques Doillon, were brought in for questioning Monday over allegations from Godreche, a prominent figure in France's #MeToo movement, Le Monde reports. Godreche, 52, said Jacquot first raped her when she was 14. She said Doillon sexually assaulted her during the making of his 1989 movie The 15-Year-Old Girl, per the Hollywood Reporter. Prosecutors are apparently not seeking charges, for now, in connection with Godreche's allegations but they asked for charges to be filed over complaints from Le Besco and Roy.

Doillon was released on medical grounds Tuesday without being charged. Jacquot was released Wednesday after two days of questioning, the Times reports. Deadline reports that Le Besco filed a legal complaint in May shortly after her autobiography was released. In the book, she wrote that Jacquot had a "destructive hold" on her and groomed her during a relationship that began during the making of Sade, when she was 16 and he was 52. "Before physically violating me, Benoit raped my mind," she wrote. (More France stories.)

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