The Yvelines Assize Court on Wednesday sentenced a former tennis coach, Andrew Geddes, to eighteen years of felony imprisonment for the rape of a number of of his former college students, all minors at the materials time.
At the finish of this second trial marked by troublesome testimonies, Andrew Geddes, who had been sentenced to the identical sentence at first occasion, was discovered responsible of raping and sexually assaulting 4 younger women aged 12 to 17 at the begin of the 2000s and between 2009 and 2014.
At the materials time, Andrew Geddes, 53 years previous at the moment, was a famend coach of the Sarcelles membership, the finest of Val-d’Oise, then of the Levallois Sporting Club (LSC).
A “process of control”
Her first sufferer was 12 when she met him in 1999. An ideal hope of her era, she claims to have been raped and sexually assaulted practically 400 instances by the ex-coach till she was 14.
A sample that was repeated with three different victims, aged 15 to 17, after they have been educated by this coach thought-about charismatic however very laborious along with his college students.
One after one other, victims described a “process of grip” during which he reduce them off from their households and mates, compelled usually violent intercourse, in his automobile, in the membership’s rest room or throughout of internships in La Baule.
They all turned “sex slaves” of a “guru” who practiced with them “hot and cold”, defined Tuesday the legal professional normal, who had requested eighteen years in jail.
“Like real rot”
“The extremely upsetting statements of the victims made me feel rightly like a real rot,” Andrew Geddes mentioned Wednesday morning earlier than the court docket withdraws to deliberate. He additionally admitted having “become aware” of his “guilt” and the “horrors” dedicated.
“This is the culmination of seven years of fighting to obtain a decision that will allow my client to continue on her way,” responded Me Nicolas Cassart, lawyer for one of the civil events.
For Me Didier Leick, counsel to 2 younger girls, “it is a confirmatory and predictable decision which can be explained by the seriousness of the facts, their duration in time and their frequency”.
Placed underneath judicial management in June, the ex-coach, emotionless throughout the supply of the verdict, left the courtroom handcuffed after the announcement of the deliberation, which lasted greater than 7 hours.
