A French court sentenced 68-year-old former senator Joël Garriau for spiking the drink of 50-year-old Member of Parliament Sandrine Josso with the drug ecstasy (MDMA) in an attempt to sexually assault her. The court imposed a four-year prison sentence, including 18 months of actual imprisonment and the remainder suspended, and ordered Garriau to pay 5,000 euros in psychological damages to the victim.
The incident took place in November 2023. Josso recounted that she had gone to Garriau’s apartment in Paris to celebrate his re-election to office, but shortly after drinking champagne, she began to feel unwell.
"I intended to visit a friend but ended up facing an attacker," Josso told the court. "He looked at me in a way I had never seen before. I didn’t want to show weakness because I feared if I said I was unwell, he would force me to lie down."
She gritted her teeth to stay conscious and escaped from the apartment, receiving help from colleagues who took her to a hospital. Toxicology tests showed her blood contained MDMA at three times the typical recreational dose.
Garriau, who resigned from the senate in October, admitted to putting ecstasy in the drink but denied intent to sexually assault. He claimed it was an "accident" due to depression; he said he had intended to take the drug himself the previous night but did not, and the next day inadvertently gave the drugged drink to Josso instead.
When questioned about internet searches for "ecstasy" and "GHB (date rape drug)," he said he could not recall and described the searches as general research typical for a politician interested in current events.
Josso, who still serves as an MP for the Democratic Movement (MoDem) party, has become a leading campaigner against drug-facilitated sexual assault. She said the incident caused severe psychological trauma, leaving her paranoid and vulnerable.
She also joined an anti-drugging association founded by Caroline Darien, daughter of Dominique Pellicot, a man notorious worldwide for drugging his wife to enable decades of sexual abuse. Josso aims to make this issue a major social agenda in France.
,BBC