A new extreme case shocks , recalling her much-lauded case. A French court has sentenced 51-year-old bank manager Guillaume Bucci to 25 years in prison for torturing, raping and forcing his partner into prostitution for seven whole years.
Bucci was found guilty because between 2015 and 2022 he subjected his partner, 42-year-old Letizia, to systematic physical and psychological abuse, while forcing her to have sex with hundreds of men, many of whom he met online.
The court in south-east France imposed a 25-year prison sentence, stipulating that the convict must serve at least two-thirds of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Prosecutors had sought a life sentence, citing a high risk of recidivism.
“I stopped counting at 487 men”
During the hearing, Leticia described a regime of “psychological control” and constant fear, claiming her ex-partner used violence, threats and humiliation to subdue her. She testified that she was forced to associate with over 500 men.
“I stopped counting at 487,” he told the court, noting that he had more than one contact with several of them.
As she described, the abuse began gradually, when Butchi suggested sadomasochistic practices to her, claiming that everything would be consensual and would stop if she asked.
The trial of Guillaume Bucci, 51, opened this Monday before the Assize Court of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. He is notably on trial for rape preceded by acts of torture and barbarity and pimping.
From 2015 to 2022, his ex-partner Laetitia R. says she suffered…
— Claire Langoulant – Legitimist Royalist (@ClaireRoya14724)
“I thought he was talking about hitting and tying up. In fact, it was pure violence,” the 42-year-old said, adding that she lived in constant fear that personal videos and recordings would be made public if she tried to leave him.
Allegations of strangulation, burns and forced prostitution
The defendant admitted at trial to some of the acts attributed to him, including strangulation, burns and extreme sexual practices, but insisted they were “consensual sex toys”.
He also admitted forcing his partner into extradition by setting up meetings with “friends, colleagues and strangers” and asking her to keep a list of the men she was in contact with.
According to her testimony, one day after the birth of her daughter in 2017 and while she had just been discharged from the hospital, she was forced to meet a truck driver for sex. Leticia R. is a mother of four children.
The shadow of the Peliko case
The case has drawn sharp comparisons to that of Giselle Pelico, who revealed that her husband had drugged her for years so that unknown men would rape her.
Leticia’s lawyer, Philippe Henri Honneguer, said his client decided to speak publicly inspired by Pelico’s stance and the wave of discussion it opened in French society about sexual violence and the abuse of women.
In contrast to the Peliko case, however, in the present trial there were no accusations of drug use by the defendant.
