Before the criminal court of Hérault, a fake playboy, “duped” women and questions on the extension of the field of rape – Le Monde

It happens that under the most mediocre guise, a court case offers the chemically pure concentrate of the questions of an era. This case is unfortunately judged since Monday, October 25 by the criminal court of Hérault in Montpellier. Unfortunately, because if there is a case that would have deserved to be debated and brought before a real assize court with citizen jurors and not before this court composed only of professional magistrates, this is it.

The facts: on the one hand, Jack S., in his late sixties and dyed hair, former Beaux-Arts graduate, three times married, three times divorced, surviving as a semi-bankrupt craftsman in Nice and Monaco, who frantically foams dating sites looking for sex partners. He creates an avatar for himself, Anthony Laroche, draws the photos of his profile from a catalog of models for Marlboro clothes, gives him an age – 37 or 38 years – endows him with an attractive profession – “Decorator in Monaco”, “Art gallery owner”, ” photographer “, ” interior designer “ – and assiduous sports practice.

On the other hand, hundreds of women – 342 according to the survey – also registered on dating sites, aged 19 to 50 years. They are single, divorced or just separated, with or without children. The handsome Anthony Laroche contacts them, they answer, the conversation begins. For more privacy, discussions continue on social networks, then on the phone. We discuss for several days, often several weeks, we confide in our life and our desires, we send each other by SMS or WhatsApp (real) photos of private parts and videos of masturbation. Most women ask for a date at a bar or restaurant. Their interlocutor declines, invents pretexts to always postpone the deadline. Others, cautious, want him to turn on his webcam to continue talking to them. He refuses.

Pretexts

To all, Jack S. alias Anthony Laroche, on the other hand, offers to make the meeting a reality at his home, in his apartment on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. “The restaurant is too much Papa-Maman”, he said. He has dreams to spare. It will be Fifty Shades of grey – the erotic bestseller published in 2012 – for real, it dangles to them. Three hundred and eighteen women contacted did not follow up. Twenty-four of them get caught up in the game of “Magical encounter” which the (real) velvety voice of Jack S. promises as much as the (false) image of the sublime decorator in Monaco.

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