Former French Secretary of State Georges Tron has reportedly been sentenced to several years in prison following abuse allegations in an appeal trial.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A Parisian court on Wednesday handed down a five-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault, French media reported. Two years were suspended, according to reports.
The 63-year-old had been acquitted in the first instance in 2018.
Two of his former female employees had accused Tron and his then co-worker of abuse. They had procured foot massages which had turned into sexual acts.
Tron had been forced to resign from his post as secretary of state following the rape allegations in 2011.
His then-employee was sentenced to two years' probation.
Both defendants denied the charges.
The court found them guilty on one of the two counts.
"It's a message of relief for my client," responded victim advocate Vincent Ollivier.
It is also a message of hope, he said, for women who find themselves in such a situation.
Tron had been secretary of state under conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.
His case came to light in 2011 shortly after a scandal involving then-French IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
At the time, the so-called DSK affair triggered a debate about sexual assault in France.
Australian Associated Press
