Gérard Depardieu to face trial over rape and sexual assault allegations

French actor Gérard Depardieu has been ordered to face trial over allegations of rape and sexual assault in 2018.

His accuser, actor Charlotte Arnould, stated she was relieved the case was going to court docket, seven years after she filed a criticism.

Depardieu, 76, has denied the costs, insisting his relationship with Arnould was consensual.

He was convicted in May of sexually assaulting two members of a movie manufacturing crew 4 years in the past – and positioned on a listing of intercourse offenders, however not jailed. He had denied their allegations.

“Seven years later, seven years of horror and hell… I think I’m having trouble realising how huge this is. I’m relieved,” Arnould wrote in a social media put up.

Arnould’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, confirmed Depardieu had been ordered to face trial for the alleged assault and rape by digital penetration of Arnould on two events at his Paris residence in August 2018.

“My client and I are relieved and confident. This is a form of judicial truth for Charlotte while she awaits the criminal trial,” she stated.

The trial’s date has not but been set.

In a letter revealed in Le Figaro in 2023, Depardieu denied the allegations, writing: “Never, ever, have I abused a woman.”

“There was never any coercion, violence, or protest between us,” he stated, referring to Arnould.

The case was initially dismissed for inadequate proof, however after Arnould filed a criticism as a civil occasion, a judicial investigation was opened in the summertime of 2020.