French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia has been found guilty of sexually assaulting actress Adèle Haenel when she was a minor.
The 60-year-old director received a four-year sentence, with two years suspended. He will serve the remaining two years under house arrest, monitored by an electronic bracelet.
The court also ordered Ruggia to pay €15,000 (£12,500) in damages to Haenel, as well as €20,000 to cover the psychological therapy she required due to the abuse.
The judge emphasized that Ruggia had “taken advantage” of his influence over Haenel, who was between 12 and 15 years old at the time of the assaults.
Ruggia’s lawyer, Fanny Collin, has announced plans to appeal the verdict.
Now 35 years old, Haenel left the courtroom in Paris to applause from women’s rights activists, as had been the case throughout the trial.
Reporters noted she appeared nervous before the ruling but remained composed as the sentence was delivered.
The allegations date back to 2002, during the filming of Les Diables (The Devils)—a film in which Haenel starred at age 12.
She accused Ruggia of molesting her during production and continuing to assault her afterward under the pretense of offering film lessons.
The film’s crew members had previously expressed discomfort over Ruggia’s behavior on set.
A court summary stated that Ruggia would meet with Haenel every Saturday following the film’s completion, during which he allegedly touched her inappropriately and put his hands in her underwear.
Investigators also uncovered unsettling notes on Ruggia’s computer in which he wrote about Haenel’s “overflowing sensuality” at age 12.
In court, Ruggia denied the allegations, claiming he had only tried to “protect” Haenel in the early days of her career.
However, his repeated dismissal of her claims led to a heated moment in the trial last December when Haenel shouted at him to “shut up” before storming out.
Haenel, best known for her role in Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), first went public with her accusations in an emotional interview with Mediapart in 2019, describing the “sexual harassment” she endured. She said her decision to speak out was influenced by the documentary Leaving Neverland, which explored Michael Jackson’s alleged abuse of children.
The case against Ruggia is one of several high-profile #MeToo revelations within the French film industry.
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