French film director Christophe Ruggia (left) walks with his lawyer Fanny Colin (right) at The Paris Courthouse in Paris on June 29, 2023, where he is due to appear on allegations of ‘sexual offenses against a minor’. Image: Paul-Louis Godier/AFP
A French magistrate has ordered film director Christophe Ruggia to stand trial on charges of sexually assaulting an actress when she was a minor, sources close to the case said on Saturday.
The trial at the Paris criminal court, set for December 9 and 10, follows allegations that Ruggia sexually assaulted actor Adele Haenel in the early 2000s when he was in his mid to late 30s and she was under 15.
In a court document seen by AFP, the investigating magistrate said Haenel’s accusations were “precise and consistent” and that she had suffered psychological consequences from the assaults.
Potentially aggravating circumstances were the considerable age difference between Ruggia and Haenel, and the “psychological control” that the director progressively exercised over the young actor thanks to his position of authority.
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Ruggia has denied all the charges against him, although the director admits to committing “errors”. His lawyers declined to comment on Saturday.
AFP was unable to reach Haenel’s lawyers.
The Ruggia case is one of a string of revelations that have prompted new questions about sexual violence in French society, particularly in the artistic world.
Ruggia, now 59, was initially charged in 2020 over the accusations.
Other cases
Haenel, now 35, complained against Ruggia after accusing him of subjecting her to “constant sexual harassment” from the age of 12 to 15, including “forced kisses on the neck” and touching.
Ruggia directed her in the 2002 movie “The Devils”, her first film role.
The accusations stunned the French film industry, which has been slower than Hollywood to react to the #MeToo movement turning the spotlight on sexual abuse in the arts.
But in recent months police and investigating magistrates have turned their attention to several allegations.
Cinema legend Gerard Depardieu, 75, put his career on hold last autumn after accusations against him, all of which he denies.
He is to stand trial in October accused of sexually assaulting two women, and also risks a second trial after he was charged in 2020 with the rape of an actor in 2018 when she was 22 and anorexic.
And actor Judith Godreche said earlier this year two French directors, Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon, had sexually abused her when she was a teenager.
Godreche accused Jacquot of raping her during a six-year relationship that started when she was 14 and he was 25 years her senior.
She accused Doillon of sexually abusing her when she was 15.
In July, a magistrate charged 77-year-old Jacquot for allegedly raping two other actors.
Jacquot 80-year-old Jacques Doillon was detained in July for questioning over the alleged sexual abuse of much younger actresses who starred in their films, charges both have denied.
The head of France’s top cinema institution, Dominique Boutonnat, stepped down in July after he was convicted of sexually assaulting his godson in 2020.