French police have taken directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon into questioning on accusations of sexual assault made against them by actress and activist Judith Godrèche.
Godrèche filed official complaints against Jacquot and Doillon in February, accusing both men of sexual assault in alleged incidents decades ago, when she was a teenager. She accused Jacquot of raping her in 1986, when she was 14, and of subsequent offenses in a romantic relationship which lasted into the 1990s. She has accused Doillon of sexually assaulting her during the filming of his 1989 feature The 15-Year-Old Girl, in which she starred. Both men deny the allegations.
French media on Monday reported that both men had been taken into custody and were being questioned by the Paris branch of France’s Brigade for the Protection of Minors.
When Godrèche went public with the allegations, it helped reignite France’s #MeToo movement. The filmmaker, a former teen idol, has become the face of the movement, addressing the French Parliament and Senate and helping push for a government commission to investigate sex crimes and sexism in French cinema.
In another prominant #MeToo case, Dominique Boutonnat, the head of France’s powerful national film board, the CNC, was found guilty on charges he sexually assaulted his 19-year-old godson.