AVIGNON, France (AP) — A court in France on Thursday sentenced the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious, in abuse that lasted nearly a decade.

Dozens of men who abused Gisèle Pelicot were convicted, including the man who invited them to do so: her husband of 50 years. She wanted the public trial to show rape victims they were not alone.

Dominique Pelicot was found guilty of aggravated rape of his ex-wife Gisèle in the French city Avignon on Thursday in a trial that has shocked France and the world. The sentence for the 72-year-old man is still pending.

Gisèle Pelicot said after 51 men were convicted in the drugging-and-rape trial that riveted France and turned her into an icon that the ordeal was “very difficult” and expressed support

A French panel of judges found dozens of men guilty of raping a woman whose ex-husband had drugged her unconscious over the course of a decade.

A French court found dozens of men guilty of raping Gisèle Pelicot, whose then-husband repeatedly drugged her unconscious over the course of a decade. The husband was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

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A panel of judges in France is delivering verdicts for more than four dozen men charged with aggravated rape and sexual assault on Gisèle Pelicot

A French court found Dominique Pelicot guilty on Thursday of repeatedly drugging and raping his wife for almost a decade, and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her unconscious body. All the Frenchman's 50 co-defendants were also found guilty of rape,