Gérald Darmanin confronted, in the Paris court, with the complainant who accuses him of rape

The investigations are continuing concerning the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, targeted by a judicial investigation for rape. He arrived, Friday March 12 at the beginning of the afternoon, at the Paris judicial court to be confronted with Sophie Patterson-Spatz, the woman who accuses him of rape. The confrontation lasted about nine hours.

In a press release sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP) shortly before 11:30 p.m., the lawyers for the minister, Mr.e Pierre-Olivier Sur and Me Mathias Chichportich, are delighted that“At the end of this confrontation, Gérald Darmanin remains under the status of assisted witness”, which according to them constitutes the “Proof that he is not accused of any serious or concordant evidence of any offense”. Asked by AFP, the advice of Mme Patterson-Spatz, for their part, did not respond.

Read also our investigation on this file: Gérald Darmanin targeted by a rape accusation

It is the first time that M. Darmanin and Mme Patterson-Spatz are facing this case, which began with a first complaint in 2017. The minister is accused by the complainant of rape, sexual harassment and breach of trust. The investigation of the facts dating from 2009 is in the hands of an investigating judge, following a long procedural battle. The investigating judge placed this heavyweight of the government on December 14 under the status of assisted witness for these facts, a status which may evolve during the procedure towards an indictment if the magistrate brings together “Serious or concordant clues”.

Blackmail and sexual favors

In March 2009, the complainant addressed the elected official, then in charge of the legal affairs department of the Union pour un Mouvement populaire (UMP, which became Les Républicains in 2015), to try to have a conviction of 2004 for blackmail and malicious calls against a former companion.

According to her, Mr. Darmanin would have dangled his support from the Chancellery with a letter, in exchange for sexual favors that she would have accepted, feeling compelled to “Pass to the pan”, according to his expression in front of the investigators. She filed a complaint for the first time in June 2017, which was dismissed by the Paris prosecutor’s office because the complainant did not respond to invitations from investigators.

In January 2018, an investigation was opened following a new complaint from Mr.me Patterson-Spatz. This is heard three days later. Mr. Darmanin is himself summoned to a free hearing and confirms having had a sexual relationship with Mr.me Patterson-Spatz, but according to him freely consented and at the initiative of the complainant: “There was no quid pro quo. “ The investigation is closed less than a month later for “No offense”.

Read the op-ed: “We demand a firm penal policy on sexual violence”

Long procedural disputes

In March 2018, the complainant filed a complaint with a civil party and widened her accusations: breach of trust, extortion of sexual consent, fraud of sexual consent, rape, sexual harassment. An examining magistrate refused the following August to resume investigations, considering the preliminary investigation sufficient to dismiss the charges.

After long procedural disputes, the Paris Court of Appeal ordered in June 2020 the resumption of the investigations into this accusation of rape, considering that the investigating magistrate “Could not be based solely on the results of the preliminary investigation” to dismiss the case before any new investigation. Since this summer, a new magistrate is taking care of the case.

“You still have to measure what it is to be wrongly accused, of having to explain to your parents what happened, because, it’s true, I had a young life. man ‘, explained Mr. Darmanin in July to The voice of the North.

A “leaden” career

Mr. Darmanin, whose appointment to the post of Minister of the Interior had been criticized by feminists, in particular because of this affair, filed a complaint for slanderous denunciation.

Before the confrontation, several sources familiar with the matter reported to Agence France-Presse that the judge did not seem convinced that the facts could be criminally qualified as “Rape”. This did not prevent a relative of Mr. Darmanin from recently worrying about accusations that could last, because of the length of the procedure and possible appeals on both sides, likely to “Lead” his political career.

Read also Feminist activists ulcerated by the appointments of Gérald Darmanin and Eric Dupond-Moretti

Mr. Darmanin is not the only French personality caught in the wave #metoo, launched in the fall of 2017 with the revelation of the many rapes and sexual assaults committed against actresses by the American producer Harvey Weinstein.

The actor Gérard Depardieu was indicted on December 16 for “Rapes” on a young actress, while the director Christophe Ruggia and the president of the National Cinema Center, Dominique Boutonnat, were indicted for “Sexual assault”.

The media and sports circles have also been affected. The Swiss Islamologist Tariq Ramadan, the former flagship presenter of the TF1 newspaper Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, the modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel or even the skating trainer Gilles Beyer are thus targeted by comparable accusations.

Read the op-ed: “We demand a firm penal policy on sexual violence”

The World with AFP