‘Perverted’ film director ‘groomed’ actress into relationship when she was 14 years old

A French film director has been taken into custody after being accused of sexual abuse and grooming by an actress he was in a romantic relationship with when she was 14 years old.

Benoît Jacquot, 77, was being questioned by the Paris branch of France’s Brigade for the Protection of Minors along with fellow director Jacques Doillon, 80, local media reported.

Judith Godrèche, the actress, filed official complaints of sexual abuse against the two men earlier this year.

The 52-year-old actress claimed Jacquot groomed her in the late 1980s, when he cast her in his 1987 film The Beggars and the pair became a couple. At the time she said she was 14 and he was 39. She has described the relationship as one of “control” and “perversion”. She made an official complaint against him for rape with constraint.

Godrèche also accused Doillon of sexually assaulting her twice, and demanding she perform 45 takes of an unscripted sex scene with him when she was 15 during the shooting of his 1989 film The 15 Year Old Girl. She made a formal complaint against him for rape with violence.

Jacquot has previously denied the accusations, claiming all sexual relations were consensual and has insisted on the “loving” nature of the relationship. Doillon has also denied the accusations, describing them as “lies”.

The lawyers of the two film-makers denounced Monday’s custody measure, media coverage of the story, and “attacks on the presumption of innocence” of their clients.

Speaking about sexual violence in the film industry at France’s most prestigious awards ceremony in February, Godrèche said: “Silence has been my driving force for 30 years … We can decide that men accused of rape should not be allowed to call the shots in the cinema.

“Let us not embody heroines on screen, only to find ourselves hiding in the woods in real life; let us not embody revolutionary or humanist heroes, only to wake up in the morning knowing that a director has abused a young actress and say nothing,” she said to a standing ovation.

Godrèche’s speech provoked a #MeToo storm in France, which had until then resisted the 2017 Hollywood movement.

Actress Julia Roy has since filed a complaint for sexual assault against Jacquot, and actress Isild le Besco also formally accused Jacquot for rape of a minor over 15 years old, for events that allegedly took place between 1998 and 2007.

Doillon has also been accused of sexual assault by actress Anna Mouglalis and sexually inappropriate behaviour by Le Besco in interviews with French media. The director said he wanted to reserve his explanations for the courts.

It is not known whether either actress made a formal complaint.

The two men arrived at the regional directorate of the judicial police in Paris about 9.30am on Monday. Under French law, people accused of a crime can be held in custody for up to 48 hours for questioning.