Gérard Depardieu Sexual Abuse Judgment expects

The French cinema star Gérard Depardieu is confronted with a suspended prison sentence and registration as a sex offender if he is convicted today for abuse.

During his trial six weeks ago, the court heard testimony of two women who said that the 76-year-old actor touched them while working on a film in Paris in 2021. Depardieu denies the allegations.

In his summary before the judge on March 27, the public prosecutor Laurent Guy said: “It is completely possible to be an excellent actor and a great father – and still commit a crime.

“You are not here to judge French cinema. You are here to judge Gérard Depardieu, just as you would do another citizen.”

The public prosecutor asked for a suspended prison sentence of 18 months, as well as a fine of € 20,000 (£ 16,850) and registration on the list of sexual offenders.

Claude Vincent, who represents one of the two female claimants, described Depardieu as a “misogynist” and a “case study in sexism”.

But for the defense, Jérémie Assous demanded an acquittal and the team of the claimants called “more militants than lawyers”.

“They cannot tolerate that there should even be a defense. They think that every defense is an additional attack,” he told the court.

The alleged attacks took place in September 2021 when Depardieu made a film called Les Volets Verts (the Green Shutters) about an aging actor who came to terms with his falling powers.

It was the first time that the actor appeared in court for sexual violence. Several other women have made similar allegations in the media and an alleged rape case could be tried.

The first claimant – a permanent decorator – told the court that after a small argument with Depardieu he caught her between his legs and held her by the hips.

The second woman – an assistant director – said that the actor touched her buttocks and breasts through her clothes on three different occasions.

Depardieu denied the allegations and only said that he had accidentally touched the women or to keep his balance.

At the end of the hearings, Depardieu said: “My name was dragged through the mud through lies and insults.

“A process can be a very special experience for an actor. Seeing all this anger, the police, the press. It is as if you are in a science fiction film, except that it is not a science fiction. It is life.”

He thanked the persecution and defense teams for giving insight into how courts work. “These lessons can be an inspiration for me one day if I can play a lawyer,” he said.

Depardieu said that he had not worked as an actor for three years since the sexual accusations started to circulate against him.

But earlier this month it was reported that he had started a film directed in the Azores by his friend, the actress Fanny Ardant. Depardieu plays a magician on a mysterious island, according to media reports.

Ardant appeared with Depardieu in Les Volets Verts and spoke in his defense during the trial.

“Genius – in whatever form – wears an element of the extravagant, the unfinished, the dangerous. (Depardieu) is the monster and the saint,” she said.

Another experienced French actress took the side of Depardieu on Monday. In a rare interview with French television, Brigitte Bardot regretted, how “talented people who touch a girl’s buttocks are sent to the deepest dungeon.”

“Feminism is not my thing,” said Bardot. “I personally love men.”