“I feel so bad for him and his family because he was a really good man,” he recalls, serving coffee from behind the bar.
“He was a family man, a Monsieur Tout-le-Monde,” Mr. Flegon said, using a French expression meaning “Mr. Everyman” or “ordinary man.”
It has become the disturbing slogan of a gang-rape trial in Avignon, southern France, of a husband accused of repeatedly drugging his wife, knocking her unconscious and then hiring dozens of “ordinary” men to abuse her while she was in a coma.
Like many of the defendants, Delville, a 54-year-old state construction worker and father of two adult children who has been with the same partner for 32 years, has no criminal record.
His wife told police the couple had a “perfectly normal sex life” and had sex “two or three times a week”, sometimes using sex toys but nothing more aggressive than that. He had several mistresses and occasionally watched porn.
“Monsieur Tout-le-Monde” suits him very well. Yet Delville and 50 other men face up to 20 years in prison each for the aggravated rape of 72-year-old Gisèle Pélicot.
Ms Pelicot became a symbol for women after she gave up her right to anonymity so she could confront her attackers in court and raise awareness of “chemical subjugation” – drugging victims to sexually assault them.
Like the other two defendants, Delville was a regular at Mr Flegon’s bar-brasserie, Le Siècle, the social heart of Mazan, a small village in Provence that has become famous as the former home of Dominique Pelicot, the 71-year-old pensioner at the centre of the case.
“Unfortunately, now he has to answer for his actions,” the bar owner said, shaking his head, in a pronounced Southern drawl.
Since the trial began three weeks ago, Ms. Pélicot has boldly demanded that the defendants, around 35 of whom deny rape, confess that the sedative had turned them into a “rag doll, a bag of garbage,” and make clear that this was not a game of debauchery to which they consented.
He said a defence lawyer who said “rape is rape” had “insulted” him by implying that his clients might have been fooled into thinking he was a willing party.
“For once in your life, take responsibility for your actions,” he said to the men, who represented all segments of society, including journalists, carpenters, prison guards, firefighters and nurses.
Video evidence
A film from September 2019 was found in her husband’s computer files showing Delville having sex with Ms Pélicot, wearing a dark T-shirt and black socks.
Delville also admitted to filming Pélicot abusing his comatose wife, despite her snoring. In the film, the two men whisper together. When Mrs. Pelicot stirs in her drugged sleep, her husband tells Delville to leave the bedroom.
When first questioned by police, Delville said he had met Pélicot on a swingers site and had been sent photographs of Pélicot’s naked wife with other men. Ms Pélicot later confirmed that she was not the person in the photographs.
Delville claimed he was unaware that Ms Pélicot had been drugged without her knowledge. He denied rape and said he had “no doubt” that she “consent”.
But Delville backtracked after seeing the graphic videos, admitting Ms Pélicot knew nothing about it, saying: “I did it [her husband] “I wanted to, I don’t know why. I couldn’t stop. I lost touch.”
She told the court on Friday that her father, a tyrant and alcoholic nicknamed Hitler, forced her to sleep naked in the snow because she wet the bed. She was placed in a foster home.
His relationship with women? “I always respected my wife and her decisions. She was not mine: if she didn’t want something, I respected her.”
“He never did anything inappropriate toward me or any of my girlfriends,” his daughter said. “He is respectful, helpful and hard-working. We have a close relationship. He taught me the values of life.”
The prosecutor said that eight months after his arrest, Delville told the investigating judge: “Ms. Pelicot did not consent. I am guilty of rape.”
“Can we consider that this position should be strictly maintained?” asked the prosecutor.
“Yeah. Sorry, I was naive, stupid, and an ass,” Delville said.
Modest from the outside
Two other defendants were questioned in relation to the rape charge against Ms. Pélicot. Both appear to be modest, at least from the outside.
Lionel Rodriguez, 44, is a former supermarket worker and father of three. He was described by friends as “an honest and upright, loving husband and father”. He said he wrongly believed he was participating in a lewd “game” and did not think it was abuse but later realised “something was wrong”.
Mr Pélicot said his wife sent him photos of herself naked in the couple’s garden, adding: “I never thought she wouldn’t be part of this game. It was my first big mistake.”
“I didn’t ask myself many questions,” he admitted when asked how he arranged the nightly meeting at the Pélicots’ house. “I didn’t look for excuses. I lost my bearings.”
The prosecutor, who said his intention was not rape, said: “Since I never obtained Ms. Pelicot’s consent, I have no choice but to accept the facts.”
‘Kind and compassionate’
One of the oldest men in the dock is Jacques Cubeau, a 72-year-old retired marine firefighter, truck driver and pizzeria owner whom his family describes as “kind and compassionate” and whose Catholic upbringing led him to “do good to those around him.”
“I have the deepest respect for women,” said the grandfather, prompting the judge to ask: “How can this statement be reconciled with the charge against you of raping an unconscious woman?”
“I thought it was a fantasy of theirs… I got the idea that she was a shy woman in a swinging couple,” he said, apologising but denying rape.
His insistence that he did not engage in penetration or oral sex with Ms Pelicot (he claimed she did not use her tongue) led the judge to show, for the first time, a shocking video of Cubeau doing just that.
“I realized that I was potentially being mean to her, but it took me a while to realize it,” he mumbled.
After the video was played, the presiding judge, Roger Arata, ruled that no further footage would be shown to the public or journalists in court, despite Ms Pélicot’s request that the footage be made public without any restrictions.
“We should not shy away from confronting rape,” said Stephane Babonneau, one of Ms. Pélicot’s lawyers. “This is a case that has the potential to change society. [but we] “We must have the courage to acknowledge what rape really is,” she said.
The defendants were booed
As the trial continued, the defendants were booed and some threatened journalists and protesters. One even hit a camera crew and was caught on camera shouting, “Watch out or I’ll rape your mother too.”
On the other hand, public support for Ms. Pélicot is growing day by day, with those who support her applauding her at court hearings.
France now wonders whether the case could be a turning point for a patriarchal society that has turned a blind eye to women being treated as objects.
Speaking to France Info, feminist writer Rose Lamy said the case could finally put an end to the idea that sexism and sexual violence are only committed by “others” – perverts, monsters, serial killers.
He said these were committed by “good family men.”
Ms Lamy said the fact that the victim was drugged and unconscious made it difficult to suggest she could have wanted it in some way and the overwhelming visual evidence meant the rape could not be trivialised. “There was no real angle of attack on the victim,” she said.
Ms Lamy said first of all: “This case solidifies the idea that Monsieur Tout-le-Monde committed such violence.”
“Feminist activists have been pushing this idea for years, but perhaps in limited circles. With this case, everyone will definitely hear about it from now on.”