Gerard Depardieu, a French film legend, should face a criminal trial on allegations that he r*ped and s*xually assaulted another actor, Paris prosecutors said Thursday.
The detectives’ formal request for a trial comes after the 75-year-old was accused in December 2020 with allegedly r*ping Charlotte Arnould at his Paris residence twice in August 2018.
Prosecutors have since launched an investigation to assess if a trial was necessary.
It will now be up to an investigating magistrate to decide whether the hearing should proceed.
A lawyer for Depardieu did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment, while Arnould’s lawyer Carine Durrieu-Diebolt stated that the move was “the result of a long investigation which was able to gather evidence corroborating my client’s words.”
It was “a huge step forward filled with hope” for Arnould, Durrieu-Diebolt added.
Depardieu has denied a string of r*pe and s*xual assault allegations in recent years that have drawn comment from figures including President Emmanuel Macron.
“Never, but never, have I abused a woman,” he told conservative daily Le Figaro last October in reference to Arnould’s allegations.
The 28-year-old actor’s case was initially dropped by prosecutors in 2019 after their investigation failed to turn up sufficient evidence.
But she pressed successfully in 2020 for it to be reopened.
Depardieu also faces a trial in October for alleged s*xual assaults against two different women during a film shoot in 2021.