A French court has sentenced 51-year-old bank manager Guillaume Bucci to 25 years in prison after finding him guilty of subjecting his former partner to years of horrific rape, torture, psychological abuse, and forced prostitution. The case exposed a prolonged seven-year cycle of violence and coercion that left the survivor, Laetitia R, permanently traumatised and living with disabilities caused by the abuse she endured between 2015 and 2022.
Laetitia, a 42-year-old mother of four, told the court that Bucci manipulated and controlled her under the pretext of participating in sadomasochistic sexual practices. According to her testimony, the abuse escalated gradually over time, transforming into systematic violence and humiliation. She described living in constant fear of Bucci, saying he exercised complete psychological domination over her and treated her like a “slave.”
One of the most disturbing incidents presented during the trial occurred on Christmas Eve in 2015, when Bucci allegedly ordered Laetitia to travel to a highway service station and sexually offer herself to strangers while he listened over the phone. Prosecutors stated that this marked the beginning of a wider pattern of exploitation in which Bucci forced her into prostitution. Over the years, he reportedly arranged for her to have sex with numerous men, including friends, colleagues, and strangers recruited online. He also demanded that she maintain a written list of the men involved. During the trial, Laetitia revealed that she eventually “stopped counting at 487 men.”
Choosing not to hide her identity behind a closed-door hearing, Laetitia insisted on a public trial. She explained that her decision was inspired by Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman who became internationally recognised after demanding a public hearing in her own abuse case, which led to the convictions of her husband and multiple other men for drugging and raping her. Unlike that case, however, prosecutors stressed that Bucci intentionally kept Laetitia conscious during the assaults and acts of torture.
Throughout the proceedings, Laetitia recounted numerous degrading acts she was allegedly forced to perform. She told the court that Bucci humiliated and abused her physically and mentally, forcing her into acts such as drinking his urine and licking public toilets. In another shocking testimony, she stated that only one day after being discharged from the hospital following the birth of their daughter in 2017, Bucci compelled her to perform a sexual act on a truck driver.
Speaking emotionally in court, Laetitia said the abuse destroyed her sense of self and left deep emotional scars. “I felt like I was dying inside,” she said through tears, explaining that every degrading act forced upon her permanently broke a part of her emotionally and psychologically.
During the trial, Bucci admitted to several violent acts, including strangulation, burning, and acts involving bestiality. However, he claimed these incidents were consensual and described them as part of “sexual games” within their intimate relationship. He argued that he never believed he was harming Laetitia and insisted she had consented to the acts.
Prosecutors strongly rejected this defence and presented text messages and voice recordings in court that allegedly showed Bucci threatening to kill Laetitia if she refused to obey him. The evidence, according to prosecutors, clearly demonstrated that she acted under fear, intimidation, and coercion rather than free consent. Bucci also acknowledged that he pressured her into prostitution.
The prosecution had requested a life sentence, arguing that Bucci posed a severe danger and risk of repeating such crimes against other women in the future. Although the court did not impose a life term, judges sentenced him to 25 years in prison and ruled that he must serve at least two-thirds of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
