Overview
- A court in Digne‑les‑Bains on Tuesday convicted 51‑year‑old Guillaume Bucci and sentenced him to 25 years in prison, with parole possible only after serving two thirds of the term.
- The victim, Laetitia R., told the court the abuse ran from about 2015 to 2022 and said she was forced into sex with hundreds of men, declaring she “stopped counting at 487.”
- Prosecutors relied on messages, threats and testimony to show the acts were coerced while Bucci admitted violent acts such as strangulation, burning and pressure into prostitution but said they were consensual sexual games.
- The survivor waived a closed trial and spoke publicly after citing inspiration from the 2024 Gisèle Pelicot case, and she says the abuse left her with lasting physical and psychological disability.
- The sentence has reignited debate over public hearings and victim visibility and raised concern that a term short of life may not address prosecutors’ warnings about the risk of reoffending.