The senator is still in police custody this Friday, November 17, after a deputy filed a complaint this Wednesday.
Loire-Atlantique senator Joël Guerriau (Les Indépendants) spent a second night in police custody this Friday, November 17. The elected official is accused of having drugged a deputy without her knowledge. The events allegedly took place at the Parisian home of the 66-year-old senator on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday when the latter received the elected official at his home for a drink, reports RMC. Information confirmed by the Paris prosecutor’s office. A confrontation is taking place this Friday, according to AFP.
Still according to the Paris prosecutor’s office, Joël Guerriau was arrested on Thursday and was placed in police custody, following a complaint filed by a woman, whose identity was not revealed, for “administration to a person, to without his knowledge, of a substance likely to impair his discernment or control of his actions to commit rape or sexual assault. Sources close to the case assured Agence France-Presse that the complainant is an MP. However, the information has not yet been confirmed by the prosecution according to Le Monde.
The senator’s lawyer denies these accusations. “We are far from the scabrous interpretations that can be deduced from reading press articles,” says Maître Rémi-Pierre Drai.
The victim says she has known Joël Guerriau for a long time. They would have met to celebrate an event. It was then that the complainant would have noticed a “strange behavior” from the senator, who would have looked at her with “insistence”. After having a drink, she claims to have felt unwell during the evening and went to the hospital shortly after. Samples confirmed the presence of ecstasy in his body, as indicated by the prosecution. A substance also found at the senator’s home during the search carried out by investigators after the latter was taken into custody. According to BFMTV, the woman declares that the senator would not have attempted any physical rapprochement with her during that evening. But she believes that if she had mentioned his physical discomfort, he would have offered to stay and abuse her.
The Paris prosecutor’s office also indicated that the investigation was opened in flagrante delicacy, a procedure allowing the senator’s parliamentary immunity not to be lifted. Joël Guerriau has been elected to the High Assembly since 2011 and holds the position of secretary of the Senate and vice-president of the committee on foreign affairs, defense and armed forces. The elected official could be referred during the day. He risks 5 years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.
