Girls who’ve accused Patrick Poivre d’Arvor welcomed the indictment. (File)
One among France’s most distinguished TV journalists has been charged with rape, the prosecutor’s workplace has mentioned, following a string of accusations of sexual abuse on the top of his profession.
It’s the first time that former prime-time information presenter Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, 76, has been charged.
Poivre d’Arvor was charged on Monday with raping author Florence Porcel in 2009, the prosecutor’s workplace mentioned late Tuesday.
The journalist’s legal professionals in a press release mentioned he “firmly contested the allegations made by Porcel as he has finished for the reason that first day”.
Porcel, 40, has accused him of forcing her to have intercourse with him in 2004 and carry out oral intercourse in 2009.
The prosecutor’s workplace mentioned he was nonetheless underneath investigation over the alleged 2004 incident.
French prosecutors launched an preliminary inquiry in 2021 then dropped it a number of months later, however Porcel filed a brand new criticism, resulting in the cost on Monday.
Some 22 ladies have additionally come ahead to accuse the tv persona of rape, in addition to sexual assault and harassment. One other probe is wanting into these allegations.
Girls who’ve accused him welcomed the indictment.
“We’re overjoyed by this determination, each for Florence Porcel… and all the ladies who’ve taken half within the judicial proceedings,” #MeTooMedia, a gaggle based by three ladies who’ve accused him, mentioned on X, previously Twitter, late Tuesday.
One among them, Marie-Laure Eude Delattre, advised AFP it was “extraordinary progress”, even when all was not gained.
Delattre in 2021 filed a criticism in opposition to Poivre d’Arvor, accusing him of raping her as a 23-year-old intern on the Cannes Movie Pageant in 1985.
“Lastly,” mentioned journalist Helene Devynck, who has accused him of raping her when she was his assistant in 1993, however whose criticism was thrown out due to a statute of limitations.
The cost comes as France reels from renewed focus this month on allegations of sexual violence in opposition to celebrity actor Gerard Depardieu.
A Spanish journalist and writer mentioned on Tuesday that she had filed a prison criticism in Spain in opposition to Depardieu, claiming that he raped her practically three many years in the past in Paris.
The actor was charged with rape in one other case in France in 2020, and has additionally been accused of sexual harassment and assault by greater than a dozen ladies.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
