A court in Paris convicted a filmmaker of sexually assaulting French actress Adèle Haenel when she was aged between 12 and 15 during the early 2000s, marking the first significant #MeToo trial in the country.
Christophe Ruggia was sentenced on Monday to two years of house arrest with an electronic monitoring device, in addition to two years of suspended imprisonment. Ruggia maintained that he had done nothing wrong.
Haenel, now 35, was the first prominent French actor to speak out against the film industry’s negligence regarding sexual abuse following the emergence of the #MeToo movement.
In 2019, she accused Ruggia of inappropriately touching her multiple times during and after the shooting of the film “Les Diables” (“The Devils”) in the early 2000s.
Haenel seemed relieved and took deep breaths as the verdict was announced on Monday. She received applause from some activists for women’s rights as she exited the courtroom.
The court concluded that Ruggia “exploited the dominant position” he held over Haenel at that time. The court stated that “through nearly weekly meetings at your residence for over three years, you exhibited sexualized behaviors and attitudes,” while Haenel was “slowly distanced” from her family and friends.
Ruggia’s attorney mentioned that her client plans to appeal the decision.
Haenel, who starred in the 2019 Cannes film “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” has recently been outspoken about what she perceives as an inadequate response to sexual misconduct in the French film industry.
During the César Awards in 2020, she walked out of the event after Roman Polanski was awarded best director. Polanski remains wanted in the U.S. decades after facing charges for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
In 2023, Haenel declared her departure from the French film industry, which she criticized for its “complacency towards sexual offenders.” She released an open letter stating that Cannes and other major institutions in the French film industry are “willing to do anything to protect their rapist leaders.”
Although the #MeToo movement initially faced challenges in gaining momentum in France, several other actors and industry professionals have since come forward with their own stories.
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