The Paris Court of Appeal upheld Tuesday the dismissal of the complaint filed by a 50-year-old woman against the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, whom she accuses of having raped her in 2009.
Thus, the court has resolved the appeal filed last July by the woman, identified as Sophie Patterson-Spatz, against the verdict of a Paris examining magistrate, who ordered the dismissal of the case.
Paris prosecutor general Rémy Heitz confirmed the move in a statement. A year ago, in January 2022, prosecutors had already ordered the case to be shelved. Since his appointment in mid-2020, Darmanin has been the target of numerous criticisms, especially from feminist sectors in France, according to information from the France 3 channel.
Patterson-Spatz, who filed the first complaint in 2017, has assured that she was a victim of sexual harassment and rape, although she did not decide to report it until Darmanin took office in the government. As she has explained, Darmanin promised her help in judicial matters in exchange for sexual favors.
The accusation states that she was «forced» into these sexual relations because the now Minister of the Interior, who was then in charge of legal affairs for the Union for a People’s Movement party, abused his power.
The judge who dealt with the case in July pointed out that «there was no doubt about the veracity of her story», but also stressed that she had «deliberately decided to have sexual relations so that her case would be closed in court».
That is why Darmanin, who was 26 at the time and wrote a text message in which he described himself as a «dirty idiot,» may have «misinterpreted her intentions despite admitting that he was taking advantage of the situation.»
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
