French Police Officers Charged with Raping Woman in Custody: Evidence Includes Mobile Phone Footage

The 26-year-old woman was allegedly assaulted by two officers aged 23 and 35.

France:

Two French police officers have been charged with allegedly raping a young woman during her detention, with one officer reportedly recording the incident on his mobile phone.

The officers were initially suspended following accusations made by the woman earlier this week, claiming she was assaulted while in custody at a court facility in Bobigny, located in the northeastern suburbs of Paris.

According to a source close to the investigation, the woman is 26 years old, while the two officers facing charges are 23 and 35.

The woman had been brought to the Bobigny prosecutor's office on charges of parental neglect. The accused officers, who were on duty at the Bobigny judicial court, maintain that the sexual activity occurring overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday was consensual.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated on Saturday that both officers have been charged with rape and sexual assault by persons abusing their authority and have been placed in custody.

On Sunday, Beccuau revealed that investigators discovered video evidence on one officer's mobile phone.

A source close to the case informed AFP that the video is four seconds long and depicts a sexual act.

The prosecutor told France Info that the decision to charge the officers was based on "statements made by the complainant, which were corroborated by a number of elements in our case file," including the video evidence.

"These are all elements that lend credibility to her word," Beccuau added.

The prosecutor highlighted that the case raises important questions about "the reality of consent when we consider that this woman was being held in a courthouse detention center, and was therefore already deprived of her freedom of movement and was in a situation of physical constraint."

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez commented earlier this week that "if proven, these actions are extraordinarily serious and unacceptable."

France has recently experienced several high-profile rape cases that have intensified national discussions about consent.

This week, the French parliament passed legislation defining rape as any non-consensual sexual act, a decision praised by advocates as a shift from "a culture of rape to a culture of consent".