MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin 15-year-old who shot and killed a teacher and a fellow student Monday was only in her first semester at the school but seemed to be settling in, a school official said Thursday as families of the victims remembered them as people of faith who had deep connections within the Christian school.
Abundant Life Christian School student Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, of Madison and teacher Erin West, 42, of DeForest were killed Monday. Two other students who were shot remained hospitalized Thursday in critical condition.
Click to Gallery
Madison Police chief Shon F. Barnes speaks at a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Flowers and candles are placed outside the Abundant Life Christian School Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 in Madison, Wis., following a shooting on Monday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Supporters sign crosses during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
A supporter holds a candle during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters sign crosses during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway speaks during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
A supporter signs a cross during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Police tape remained after a shooting Monday at Abundant Life Christian School on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 in Madison, Wis. (AP photo/Mark Vancleave)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Dan Beazley stands with the homemade cross he brought from Michigan for victims of a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
Barbara Wiers, the school’s director for elementary and communications, told The Associated Press that the attack lasted eight minutes — shorter than the school’s regular snack break. She said the community’s faith and connection to one another has sustained them as they struggle with the possibility that the shooter’s motive might remain undetermined.
“Are we broken right now? Yes. Are we bruised and battered? Yes," she said. “But we will laugh again, and He will turn our mourning into joy again. And we will go on.”
Police say student Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow killed herself at the school and died at a Madison hospital. Police have said her motivation for the attack remains a key part of their investigation.
This was Rupnow’s first semester at ACLS, Wiers said. The school was working with her family on attendance, but teachers had no significant concerns, she said.
“I pray for this family because right now they’ve lost a daughter and they are wounded," she said. "And they’re dealing with the fact that their daughter did this terrible thing and hurt these other people. It has to be one of the loneliest, bitterest places to be.”
Vergara's funeral is set for Saturday at City Church, which is adjacent to the school, and West's funeral is Monday at Doxa Church in Madison, where she was a member, according to obituaries published Wednesday and Thursday.
West had worked at the school for four years and is the mother of three daughters, according to her obituary. She enjoyed camping with family, attending school sporting events, serving at Doxa Church and spending time with her daughters and the rest of her family, the obituary said.
“ALCS is a better school for the work of Erin West,” the school said in a statement.
West worked three years as a substitute teacher before accepting a staff position as the sub coordinator and in-building substitute teacher, according to the statement.
“She served our teachers and students with grace, humor, wisdom, and — most importantly — with the love of Jesus,” the school said. “Her loss is a painful and deep one and she will be greatly missed not just among our staff, but our entire ALCS family.”
Vergara was a freshman at the school and “an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band,” according to her obituary.
The school described her as gentle and loving.
“Rubi was a blessing to her class and our school,” the school said. “She was not only a good friend, but a great big sister. Often seen with a book in hand, she had a gift for art and music.”
Attempts to obtain comment from relatives of West and Vergara have been unsuccessful.
The shooter brought two guns to the school. A man in California told authorities he had been messaging her about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives, according to a restraining order issued against him Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law. The order required the 20-year-old Carlsbad man to turn his guns and ammunition in to police within 48 hours, but it’s unclear Thursday whether he complied, would be charged or was in custody.
The order didn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also didn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.
A spokesperson for the Carlsbad Police Department said federal authorities were leading the investigation and “we do not believe there is a threat to our city.”
Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter's parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said Wednesday.
Police don't know if anyone was targeted or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said.
While Rupnow had two handguns, Barnes said he does not know how she obtained them and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow's parents might be charged, but they have been cooperating, Barnes said.
Online court records show no criminal cases against her father, Jeffrey Rupnow, or her mother, Mellissa Rupnow. They are divorced and shared custody of their daughter, but she primarily lived with her father, according to court documents.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school of about 420 students that offers prekindergarten classes through high school.
Adam Rostad, who lives near Madison, went to ALCS from kindergarten through high school. His grandfather was pastor of the church that helped establish the school, and his mother and aunt both worked there.
Rostad said Thursday that even though he graduated about 20 years ago and doesn’t even consider himself a “church person” any longer, ALCS is family.
He has collected a list of about 440 people who are eager to either cook meals or buy gift cards for those affected and is coordinating with the school and church to make sure that’s the best way to help.
“Bullets don’t really care what your faith is, or if you have one," Rostad said. "They really don’t.”
Dell’Orto reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press Writer Ryan J. Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, contributed to this report.
Madison Police chief Shon F. Barnes speaks at a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Flowers and candles are placed outside the Abundant Life Christian School Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 in Madison, Wis., following a shooting on Monday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Supporters sign crosses during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
A supporter holds a candle during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters sign crosses during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway speaks during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
A supporter signs a cross during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Police tape remained after a shooting Monday at Abundant Life Christian School on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 in Madison, Wis. (AP photo/Mark Vancleave)
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Dan Beazley stands with the homemade cross he brought from Michigan for victims of a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
AVIGNON, France (AP) — Gisèle Pelicot spoke of her “very difficult ordeal” after 51 men were convicted Thursday in the drugging-and-rape trial that riveted France and turned her into an icon, expressing support for other victims whose cases don't get such attention and “whose stories remain untold.”
“I want you to know that we share the same fight,” she said in her first words after the court in the southern French city of Avignon handed down prison sentences ranging from three to 20 years in the shocking case that spurred a national reckoning about the blight of rape culture.
Pelicot's ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, and all but one of his co-defendants were convicted of sexually assaulting her over a period of nearly a decade after he'd knocked her unconscious by lacing her food and drink with drugs. The other co-defendant was convicted of drugging and raping his own wife with Dominique Pelicot's help.
As campaigners against sexual violence protested outside the courthouse, the 72-year-old Gisèle Pelicot expressed “my profound gratitude towards the people who supported me."
“Your messages moved me deeply, and they gave me the strength to come back, every day, and survive through these long daily hearings,” she said. “This trial was a very difficult ordeal.”
Pelicot — a hero to many in France and beyond for courageously demanding that all the evidence be heard in open court — also said she was thinking of her grandchildren after enduring the more than three-month trial, where she sat in the same courtroom as her attackers.
“It’s also for them that I led this fight," she said of her grandkids. “I wanted all of society to be a witness to the debates that took place here. I never regretted making this decision. I have trust in our capacity to collectively project ourselves toward a future where all, women and men, can live in harmony, with respect and mutual understanding. Thank you.”
The court found Dominique Pelicot guilty on all charges and sentenced him to 20 years in prison, which was the maximum possible. At age 72, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. He won't be eligible to request early release until he's served at least two-thirds of the sentence.
Dominique Pelicot and the other defendants stood up, one after the other, as chief judge Roger Arata read out the verdicts and sentences, which took more than an hour.
Gisèle Pelicot sometimes nodded her head as verdicts were announced.
Dominique Pelicot's lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, said she would consider an appeal, but she also expressed hope that Gisèle Pelicot would find solace in the rulings.
“I wanted Mrs. Pelicot to be able to emerge from these hearings in peace, and I think that the verdicts will contribute to this relief for Mrs. Pelicot," she said.
Of the 50 accused of rape, just one was acquitted but was instead convicted of aggravated sexual assault. Another man was also found guilty of the sexual assault charge he was tried for — producing 51 guilty verdicts in all.
In a side room where defendants' family members watched the proceedings on television screens, some burst into tears and gasped as sentences were revealed.
Protesters outside the courthouse followed the developments on their phones. Some read out the verdicts and applauded as they were announced inside. But disquiet grew as many of the sentences were lower than campaigners had hoped for, and cries of “shame on the justice system!” rose up from the crowd.
In addition to the 20 years they sought for Dominique Pelicot, prosecutors asked for sentences of 10 to 18 years for the others charged with rape. But the court was more lenient, with many defendants getting less than a decade in prison. The five judges voted by secret ballot, by majority for the convictions and sentences.
For the defendants other than Dominique Pelicot, sentences ranged from three to 15 years imprisonment, with some of the time suspended for some of them. Arata told six defendants they were now free, accounting for time already spent in pretrial detention.
Sophie Burtin, 53, who traveled from Lyon to show support for Gisèle Pelicot, said the trial “brought the subject of rape out into open” but expressed disappointment that “the sentences aren’t at all exemplary.”
“Some men will think, ‘OK, it’s alright, what they did wasn’t really a rape,’” she said. "The message that’s sent is, ‘Is it really serious?’ — with sentences that are so light. For me, It was meant to be a historic trial, but the feeling I have is that history hasn’t been made.”
Gisèle Pelicot's courage during the bruising trial and her appalling ordeal, inflicted on the retired power company worker in what she had thought was a loving marriage, galvanized campaigners and spurred calls for tougher measures to stamp out rape culture.
She waived her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse and successfully pushed for the hearings and shocking evidence — including her ex-husband's homemade videos of the rapes — to be heard in open court, insisting that shame should fall on her abusers, not her.
The hearings fueled conversations on a national level in France and among families, couples and friends about how to better protect women and the role that men can play.
“Men are starting to talk to women — their girlfriends, mothers and friends — in ways they hadn’t before,” said Fanny Foures, 48, who joined other women in gluing messages of support for Gisèle Pelicot on walls around Avignon before the verdict.
“It was awkward at first, but now real dialogues are happening,” she said.
“Some women are realizing, maybe for the first time, that their ex-husbands violated them, or that someone close to them committed abuse,” Foures added. “And men are starting to reckon with their own behavior or complicity — things they’ve ignored or failed to act on. It’s heavy, but it’s creating change.”
A banner that campaigners hung on a city wall opposite the courthouse read, “MERCI GISELE” — thank you Gisèle.
The defendants — strangers Dominique Pelicot recruited online — were all accused of having taken part in his sordid rape and abuse fantasies that he acted out with them and filmed in the couple's retirement home in the small Provence town of Mazan and elsewhere.
He first came to the attention of police in September 2020 when a supermarket security guard caught him surreptitiously filming up women’s skirts.
Police subsequently found his library of images documenting years of abuse — more than 20,000 photos and videos in all, stored on computer drives and catalogued in folders marked “abuse,” “her rapists,” “night alone” and other titles.
The abundant evidence led police to the other defendants. In the videos, investigators counted 72 different abusers but weren’t able to identify them all.
Although some of the accused — including Dominique Pelicot — acknowledged that they were guilty of rape, many didn't.
Some argued that Dominique Pelicot’s consent covered his wife, too. Some insisted that they hadn’t intended to rape anyone when they responded to the husband’s invitations to come to their home. Some laid blame at his door, saying he misled them into thinking they were taking part in consensual kink.
Associated Press journalist Alex Turnbull in Paris and Nicolas Vaux-Montagny in Lyon, France, contributed.
Feminist collective "Les Amazones Avignon" hang a banner reading "Thank you Gisele" around the courthouse where the Mazan rape trial is taking place in Avignon, France, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
A man holds a placard reading "Thank you for your courage Gisele Pelicot" outside the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Lawyer Beatrice Zavarro talks to the media in the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Members of the media wait inside the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Journalists and police officers stand by while waiting for Gisele Pelicot to come out outside the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Gisele Pelicot speaks to the press as she leaves the courtroom, in the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Gisele Pelicot leaves the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
A woman holds a placard reading "51 shades of shame" outside the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
A woman holds a placard reading "All the women in the world support you. Thank you Gisele" outside the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Gisele Pelicot speaks to the press as she leaves the courtroom, in the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Gisele Pelicot speaks to the press as she leaves the courtroom, in the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Gisele Pelicot speaks to the press as she leaves the courtroom, in the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Gisele Pelicot speaks to the press as she leaves the courtroom, in the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Gisele Pelicot speaks to the press as she leaves the courtroom, in the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Gisele Pelicot, who was allegedly drugged by her now former husband so that he and others could assault her, arrives at the court house in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Members of the feminist collective "Les Amazones Avignon" post a message of support for Gisele Pelicot reading "In France in 2024, 94 percent of the rapist are acquitted" near the courthouse where the Mazan rape trial is taking place, in Avignon, France, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
A defendant arrives in the Avignon courthouse, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
FILE - This courtroom sketch by Valentin Pasquier shows Gisèle Pelicot, left, and her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot, right, during his trial at the courthouse in Avignon, southern France, on Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Valentin Pasquier, File)
Media wait outside the courthouse of Avignon during the trial of four dozen men charged with aggravated rape and sexual assault on Gisèle Pelicot, in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Gisele Pelicot, who was allegedly drugged by her now former husband so that he and others could assault her, arrives at the court house in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Gisele Pelicot, who was allegedly drugged by her now former husband so that he and others could assault her, arrives at the court house in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Gisele Pelicot, who was allegedly drugged by her now former husband so that he and others could assault her, arrives at the court house in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Police officers stand guard inside the courthouse of Avignon during the trial of four dozen men charged with aggravated rape and sexual assault on Gisèle Pelicot, in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
A man with a placard reading "Christmas in prison, Easter in the slammer" walks past the media as they wait outside the courthouse of Avignon during the trial of Dominique Pelicot, in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
A member of the feminist collective "Les Amazones Avignon" sticks a message of support for Gisele Pelicot reading "Sorority" around the courthouse where the Mazan rape trial is taking place in Avignon, France, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
FILE - A woman holds a placard that reads, "Thank you Gisele," outside the Palace of Justice during a women's rights demonstration, Dec. 14, 2024, in Avignon, southern France, where dozens of men are on trial in Avignon, accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
Members of the feminist collective "Les Amazones Avignon" attach a message of support for Gisele Pelicot reading "rape = jail" near the courthouse where the Mazan rape trial is taking place in Avignon, France, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Members of the feminist collective "Les Amazones Avignon" attach a message for Gisele Pelicot near the courthouse where the Mazan rape trial is taking place in Avignon, France, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Members of the feminist collective "Les Amazones Avignon" stand by a message of support for Gisele Pelicot reading "Shame has changed side, what about justice ?" during their action of collage of messages around the courthouse where the Mazan rape trial is taking place in Avignon, France, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Members of the feminist collective "Les Amazones Avignon" stick a message of support for Gisele Pelicot reading "Justice for Gisele" in the streets around the courthouse where the Mazan rape trial is taking place in Avignon, France, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Members of the feminist collective "Les Amazones Avignon" hang a banner reading "Thank you Gisele" during their action of collage of messages of support near the courthouse where the Mazan rape trial is taking place in Avignon, France, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
A woman fires a flare outside the Palace of Justice during a women's rights demonstration, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024 in Avignon, southern France, where the trial of dozens of men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband is taking place. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
FILE - A man rides a bicycle in front of a banner that reads, "A rape is a rape," in Avignon, southern France, on Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)
FILE - Activists gather during a women's rights demonstration, Dec. 14, 2024, in Avignon, southern France, where the trial of dozens of men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband is taking place. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
FILE - People applaud Gisèle Pelicot, front right, who was allegedly drugged by her then-husband so that he and others could sexually assault her, leaves the courthouse in Avignon, southern France, on Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)
FILE - Gisèle Pelicot, who prosecutors say was drugged by her then-husband so that men could rape her as she lay unconscious, leaves the courthouse in Avignon, southern France, on Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)
FILE - This courtroom sketch by Valentin Pasquier shows Gisèle Pelicot, left, and her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot, right, during his trial at the courthouse in Avignon, southern France, on Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Valentin Pasquier, File)
