A French father has been sentenced to years in prison for raping his teenage daughter and handing her over to strangers

Draguignan, France – A court in southeastern France on Friday sentenced a man to 20 years in prison for raping his 20-year-old daughter and promising her to have sex with strangers. This case echoed the ongoing trial that shocked the nation in which 51 men were accused of rape. Gisele Pelicot, drunk by her husband so he could invite strangers to their home to molest him.

A 38-year-old father was convicted by a court in the southeast of Var for forcing his daughter to be 13 years old. He also brought other men, many of them very old, whom he contacted through online advertisements.

The father told these other men that he and his daughter were consenting adults living a sexual fantasy. But he was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison in accordance with the demands of the prosecutors.

Some of the defendants in Pelicot's case said they were given the same idea as the victim's ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot.

And like Dominique Pelicot, the father in Friday's case was targeted, participated and filmed sexual acts involving his daughter, who was blindfolded during their encounter.

He admitted the allegations, but in court he said he had a romantic relationship with a young girl and responded when she first had sex.

“This is not about love, it's about power and dominance. He doesn't like (his daughter), he wants to control her completely, that she belongs to him, that she obeys him,” said prosecutor Bois.

He also asked the judges to sentence the second defendant, who is the only one of the men who abused the girl, to 16 years in prison.

As in Pelicot's case, the second defendant – a 60-year-old man with six children – was identified thanks to his father's photos and video of the abuse, this time through geolocation data.

The second defendant told the court that he was taken by his father saying that the girl consented in three of the four meetings he had with them.

Fourth, “things went wrong. Instead of behaving like a responsible man, he followed what he wanted and closed his eyes” to the abuse, said his lawyer Christophe Mairet.

Now 18 years old, the girl was escorted to court by a gold car that is trained to comfort victims of torture. He had, like Gisele Pelicot, she declined the option of the closed trial.

It was the child, then 15 years old, who stopped his abuse in 2021 by running away after his father's violence and humiliation. He fled their home in Cavalaire-sur-mer, south of the glitzy town of Saint-Tropez, before being brought in by a holidaymaker to the police.

His father bombarded his phone with calls and texts when he escaped.

Allegations of closing Pelicot's case were released this week as it is expected that the verdict and sentence of her husband and a number of co-defendants will be announced in December.