A French judge on Tuesday ordered actor Gerard Depardieu to stand trial on charges of rape and sexual assault, the plaintiff and her lawyer said.
Depardieu is accused of raping and sexually assaulting actor Charlotte Arnould in 2018, her lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, was cited by the AFP news agency as saying.
Arnould said in a post on Instagram that she was “relieved” by the court’s decision to hold a trial.
“I think I’m having trouble realizing how huge this is. I’m relieved,” she said, adding she had gone through “seven years of horror and hell.”
Depardieu has denied the allegations.
The 76-year-old has acted in over 200 films and televisions series.
Some 20 women have accused Depardieu of inappropriate conduct. He is one of the most high-profile French figures to be accused in the #MeToo movement.
In May, Depardieu was handed an 18-month suspended sentence after he was convicted of sexual assault for groping two women on a film set in 2021.
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