Former French Secretary of State in Nicolas Sarkozy’s government is jailed for raping a colleague
Ex-French Secretary of State, 63, and female accomplice are convicted over 2009 gape rape of woman they attacked after giving foot massages to
- Georges Tron, 63, was found guilty by the Paris Appeal Court late on Wednesday
- He has been sent to prison for raping and sexually assaulting a colleague
- Tron was originally cleared of charges against him in 2018, along with an aide
- Tron’s co-accused, Brigitte Gruel, was convicted of aiding and abetting gang rape and sexual assault and given a two-year suspended sentence
France’s former conservative Secretary of State had been dramatically sent to prison for raping and sexually assaulting a colleague after coaxing her into office sex with a third woman using foot massages.
Georges Tron, 63, was found guilty by the Paris Appeal Court late on Wednesday evening after originally being cleared of the charges in 2018.
Tron – who was conservative Secretary of State under President Nicolas Sarkozy and is now the Mayor of Draveil, near Paris – was sentenced to five years in prison with two suspended.
Pictured: Former Secretary of State of Public Function and mayor of Draveil Georges arrives to Paris courthouse for his appeal trial on charges of rape and sexual assault on two former employees on February 17, 2021
As soon as the verdict was handed down, Tron was led away to the court cells, and then taken to La Santé prison in Paris.
Tron had used work meetings in Draveil to prey on a female colleague who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Tron’s co-accused, Brigitte Gruel, a former aide in Draveil, was also convicted of aiding and abetting gang rape and sexual assault and given a two-year suspended prison sentence.
Tron and Gruel were said to have offered foot massages to their victim, and then had sex with her.
Both Tron and Gruel were entered into a national register of sex offenders in France, and banned from holding a public office for six years.
Judges acquitted the defendants of the rape and sexual assault of a second complainant, who left the courtroom in tears. She cannot be named for legal reasons either.
Tron’s co-accused, Brigitte Gruel (pictured leaving a court house in 2018 after first being acquitted), a former aide in Draveil, was also convicted of aiding and abetting gang rape and sexual assault and given a two-year suspended prison sentence
Prosecuting documents stated that the rape and sexual assault of one of the plaintiffs in November 2009 and January 2010 were ‘established by the constant and detailed statements of the victim.’
Tron was forced to hand his resignation to Mr Sarkozy when the rape accusations were first made public in 2011, but he consistently claimed it was all part of a plot by political enemies.
Commenting on the conviction on Wednesday, Ms Ettel’s barrister, Vincent Ollivier, said: ‘It’s a message of relief for my client. It’s also a message of hope for other women who find themselves in a similar situation.’
Pictured: Former French President and head of the UMP right-wing opposition party Nicolas Sarkozy (left) with Georges Tron (centre) in 2015
It comes as France faces up to a serious of accusations of rape and other forms of sexual assault by women targeted by powerful men, including fashion bosses and film makers.
Many complainants have complained about cover-ups, and the notoriously slow nature of French justice in dealing with such crimes.
Tron’s old boss, Nicolas Sarkozy, is himself due in a criminal court himself on March 1 to hear the verdict of a corruption trial that could see him imprisoned.
Sarkozy is accused of plotting to get confidential information from an Assizes court judge by bribing him. The former president, who spent one term in office up until 2012, denies any wrongdoing.
