French Filmmaker Christophe Ruggia Gets Four-Year Sentence, Including Two Years Suspended, in Adele Haenel Sexual Assault Trial

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In 2019, filmmaker Christophe Ruggia from France faced allegations of sexual misconduct towards actress Adele Haenel when she was still a minor. After a trial in Paris, the court found him guilty of sexual assault. As a result, he received a four-year sentence, with two years to be served under house arrest and the remaining two years suspended.

In November 2019, Haenel claimed in an interview with investigative magazine Mediapart that Ruggia had abused her during and following the production of the film “Les Diables” (The Devils) in the early 2000s, when she was between 12 and 15 years old. Subsequently, she filed a police report against the director.

Ruggia consistently maintained his innocence. In the month of December, the prosecutor in Paris proposed a punishment of five years, which includes two years confined at home under house arrest with electronic surveillance, followed by an additional three years on probation.

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Ruggia constantly claimed he was not guilty. At the end of December, the Paris prosecutor suggested a sentence that would involve serving five years in prison, during which two years would be spent under house arrest using electronic monitoring and the remaining three years would be suspended probation.

35-year-old Adèle Haenel, France’s initial high-profile figure to accuse a filmmaker of sexual misconduct during their #MeToo movement, left acting in 2023 due to her dissatisfaction with the French film industry’s tolerance towards abusers. She had previously criticized this industry for its complacency. Haenel gained fame when she won Best Actress at the Cesar Awards in 2020 for her role in Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.” During the same year, she caused a stir by walking out of the ceremony upon Roman Polanski winning Best Director for “An Officer and a Spy.” As she departed, Haenel expressed her outrage with a shout of “Bravo to pedophilia!” This incident, along with Polanski’s win, led to significant changes in the Cesar Awards’ administrative body.

At the trial, which served as the beginning of France’s #MeToo wave, Haenel admitted experiencing pressure to show compassion towards Ruggia, a director who hasn’t made a movie since the incident and has been expelled from community organizations.

Haenel asserted in court that harming children brings about repercussions. People may express sympathy for Mr. Ruggia, but who showed concern for the child? Such acts of violence against children are unacceptable and they have consequences. No one came to aid this child.

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2025-02-03 17:16