Third man accused of raping wife of Avignon monster complains he can’t sleep, has nightmares and his wife left him after his disgusting behaviour was exposed as trial continues

A civil engineer accused of raping the wife of the Monster of Avignon told a French court he “feels sad” for her.

Father-of-two Cyrille Delville, 54, has become the third of 50 men to testify in the ongoing sex crimes trial that has shocked France.

Retired electrician Dominique Pelicot, 73, has been accused of sedating and raping his wife Giselle in their home in the quiet village of Mazan during a decade-long nightmare.

Father-of-two Delville was among dozens of men invited by Pelicot to rape Ms Pelicot after being contacted via a now-closed swingers website called Coco.fr

The men included a retired firefighter, a journalist, a councillor and truck drivers, and a graphic video of the sex acts involving Ms Pelicot, who waived her anonymity, was played in court.

The accused arrives at the courtroom on September 20 with a police officer

Gisele Pelicot (pictured) spoke out again on Tuesday about the rapes she suffered at the hands of dozens of men while under the influence of powerful sedatives

On September 20, a prison van arrives at the courtroom in Avignon

Delville admitted to rape and his name appeared in a search of devices found by police at Pelicot’s home in 2020 when he was arrested for “peeping” on women at a local supermarket.

He told the court that he had been seeing a psychologist since his arrest and that it had “helped calm his heart” as he was “very sad about Mrs Pelicot”.

Sobbing as he addressed the court, Delville added: “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get this off my chest. I can’t sleep. I’m having nightmares.”

Delville told the court that as a result of his involvement in the case, his wife of 32 years left him.

He told the court they had previously had a “normal sex life” but then they got bored so he started looking at porn sites and registered on Coco.fr to “chat”.

Meanwhile, the woman who was seduced by Pelicot in a local supermarket in September 2020 has spoken out for the first time in an interview with French television station BFMTV.

Dominique Pélicot is accused of recruiting men online to repeatedly assault his wife over a period of more than 10 years.

Gisele Pelicot, accompanied by her lawyer Stephane Babonneau, arrives at the courtroom on September 20

Gisele Pelicot is pictured with her daughter and lawyer in the courtroom on Wednesday

Gisele Pelicot arrives at the Avignon courtroom on September 20

Identified only as Nathalie, the mother-of-two described how she “didn’t go dress shopping for two years” following the incident in Carpentras, a few minutes’ drive from Mazan.

She said: “He was acting like a miserable little guy, saying he hadn’t done anything. He was taking on the victim attitude.”

Nathalie said the first thing she learned was that a security guard approached her and told her what Pelicot was doing to her and three other women.

She added: “It took me a month to realise what he had done. I threw away the dress I was wearing. I couldn’t bear it, I was in shock.”

“I haven’t gone dress shopping for two years.”

On Friday, the judge presiding over the case also ruled that the press would be banned from viewing graphic photos and videos of Ms Pelicot.

Gisele Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian arrives at the Avignon courthouse on Tuesday accompanied by her mother Gisele Pelicot

The abuse took place in the southern French town of Mazan and was discovered only when a man was caught spying on women in a local supermarket, prompting officers to search his home.

Mr. Pélicot is pictured during his appearance in court in Avignon on September 11.

Previously, the public was allowed out of the courtroom and an adjacent room before the inspection, but Judge Roger Arata ruled that only those directly involved in the case could see them.

One local journalist wrote on Twitter that this was “regrettable” as he would no longer be able to “explain the gist of the matter” to the public.