Horrifying rise of somnophilia: Britain’s ‘Monster of Avignon’ drug rape circumstances – and why males attacking their unconscious wives for ‘sadistic pleasure’ is way extra widespread than anybody realises

In recent months, the world has been shocked by a number of high-profile cases involving drug rape – notably the ‘Monster of Avignon’, Dominique Pélicot, 71,  who has admitted to drugging his wife Gisèle Pélicot, 72, before inviting other men to rape her as he filmed the assaults. 

An additional 50 men are on trial, with some arguing that they did not believe they had committed an offence because they had her husband’s permission to have sex with the unconscious Mrs Pélicot.

Further allegations involving drug rape have emerged in the US, where rapper and business mogul Sean ‘P Diddy‘ Combs is currently in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. The trial is set to start on May 5.

In addition to the criminal charges against Combs – who has repeatedly maintained his innocence – more than 100 people have filed civil suits against the celebrity, with some claiming they were drugged before being raped and filmed.

Meanwhile in the UK, those convicted of drugging and raping intimate partners and loved ones in recent years include a Met Police detective who led a rape investigation team, and a tech guru with an OBE dubbed ‘Britain’s nicest boss’.

Gisèle Pélicot has been lauded for her bravery in waiving her right to anonymity in order to raise awareness around how drugs are used to commit sexual assault by predators with somnophilia – a sexual fetish of becoming aroused by someone who is unconscious.

A 2021 Canadian study found that nine per cent of participants showed interest in ‘sex with someone who is unconscious or sleeping’ and 7.7 per cent had engaged in such behaviour.

Gisele’s daughter Caroline has written a book about the case, noting how the family’s ordeal ‘will at least have made it possible to reveal a social phenomenon that is still largely underestimated in France‘, and the wider world. 

She added: ‘Chemical submission in the intra-family and social sphere is much more widespread than one might think. This modus operandi is the preferred weapon of sexual predators. 

‘For the moment, we still do not have reliable statistical data to demonstrate this. Needless to say, in 2020, when my father was arrested, no one was talking about it.

‘Difficult to define, still poorly identified, insufficiently quantified, poorly diagnosed and therefore poorly supported, it nevertheless affects multiple profiles, from women, sometimes men, but also children, and even to infants and the elderly, and in all social backgrounds. 

‘We knew about GHB, known as a “rapist’s drug”, but can you imagine being chemically abused by a loved one, with medication from the family medicine cabinet?’

She cites a study conducted by the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products of 727 police reports transmitted in 2021, which found that the drugs involved where largely substances such as sleeping pills, anihistamines and opiods – rather than GHB. 

The report also found that in more than 41 per cent of cases, the aggressor was someone close to the victim. 

She pointed out that women like her mother don’t speak to each other because they don’t know what’s happened to them. 

‘Chemical submission is sneaky, undetectable. It gives aggressors a sense of impunity, so that months or even years can go by without anyone noticing. In many cases, the strategy of the sexual maniac is to render the victim incapable of reacting, in the same way that a lamp is extinguished. She becomes an inert thing, a puppet at the mercy of the aggressor,’ she explained.  

Dr Sohom Das is a forensic psychiatrist, based in London. He assesses mentally ill offenders and acts as an expert witness in criminal trials across the country. He also runs a YouTube channel and TikTok channel – where he shares content about crime, mental health conditions, and other topics. He is also the author of ‘In Two Minds: Stories of Murder, Justice and Recovery from a Forensic Psychiatrist’. 

He told MailOnline: ‘I think that the main motivation in the majority of cases is simply that it’s easier to commit sexual assault’ when those targetted are in a drugged state. 

But, he added, he believes that ‘in some cases, it’s more than that. It’s about power and control’.

Noting that there are multiple cases where a man has used drugs to facilitate an assault on a woman he was in a relationship with – such as the ‘Monster of Avignon’ case, Dr Das said ‘presumably they could have had sex with their wives consensually’.

He continued: ‘So I think it’s something beyond that. It’s beyond just opportunities about power and control, and I think potentially, people like these perpetrators want to keep their victims semiconscious, as opposed to unconscious, because they actually get some sort of sadistic pleasure in watching the victim suffer.’

‘It’s about power and control and kind of dominating somebody, as opposed to [having a] happy, consensual sexual experience.’ 

He explained that it is difficult to find specific statistics around the crime for several reasons. Dr Das explained: ‘There’s the general consensus is that is massively under reported, so there’s actually a much higher number of incidents [than we think.

‘That’s for a number of reasons. So victims are not necessarily aware that their drink has been spiked. 

‘It makes it difficult to identify the crime in the first place, and then, even when they think they have been spiked, sometimes it’s hard to get forensic evidence, because the drugs can wear off quite quickly.’

In addition, he added, there are a range of drugs used, and ‘police don’t necessarily have the right tests to detect them’. Finally, he said: ‘Often victims might be hesitant to report the crime due to no shame or embarrassment or stigma.’ 

The sobering reality is that there are numerous cases of sexual attacks in Britain with similarities to the Pelicot case where the victim has been in an intimate relationship with the rapist. 

Here, MailOnline reveals the cases that illustrate the terrifying scale of the problem.

Multi-millionaire businessman dubbed ‘Britain’s nicest boss’ drugged and raped two women 

Tech entrepreneur Lawrence Jones – once dubbed ‘Britain’s nicest boss’ built a reputation as a business guru, playing chess against Sir Richard Branson on Necker Island and regularly featuring on the BBC.

His success in creating a £700million business empire along with his glamorous wife Gail – who is standing by him – saw him appointed MBE for services to the digital economy, and he twice donated £100,000 to the Conservative Party.

Staff at his Manchester-based web hosting firm UKFast enjoyed perks including an on-site bar, ice rink, recording studio and even a ‘den’ for taking naps. 

Jones was arrested in 2021, over accusations that he drugged and raped two women in the 90s – claims he continuously denied.

In 2023, he was convicted of raping two women in the early 1990s while earning a living as a hotel pianist. 

During his three-week trial at Manchester Crown Court, it was said that he’d given one woman a glass of red wine and they had smoked marijuana before he said to her: ‘So do I have to teach you a lesson (or) are you just gonna let me f*** you?’

The other woman said that while at his flat, Jones told her she was ‘gorgeous’, then gave her a medicine bottle containing clear liquid, which he told her to sniff.

Describing the incident, the woman said she felt ‘helpless’ as Jones assaulted her.

According to Prosecutor Eloise Marshall KC, Jones ‘used drugs to facilitate’ the rapes.

She said: ‘The manner in which the drugs were administered in each case differs but the effects were the same – both women were stupefied and left partially conscious but unable to react.’

Following the guilty verdicts, it was revealed that he had already been convicted earlier in 2023 of sexually assaulting a woman employee of UKFast back in 2013.

That conviction could not be reported at the time to avoid prejudicing the jury in the second trial.

Met Police detective who led rape investigation team drugged and raped his wife 

One disturbing case ended with both the perpetrator – a disgraced Met detective – and the victim, his wife, dead.

Warren Arter, 54, married Rebekah, 47, in Las Vegas in 2016 after the couple met when he was the lead investigator on her domestic violence case.

Rebekah was found dead in a blood-drenched hotel room two weeks before Arter took his own life in prison. He had been arrested soon after when the police received an anonymous tip-off that he was having inappropriate relationships with victims.

He was accused of making sexual advances towards at least four victims between 2006 and 2012 when he was leading a rape investigation team.

Shortly after the shamed officer was suspended for abusing his position, but remained on full pay until finally being sacked last year after a misconduct tribunal, which heard evidence of him taking drugs and offering to supply them at swingers parties.

During this time, Rebekah’s friends described their relationship as ‘toxic’ and ‘deeply controlling’, with the pair both addicted to crack cocaine.

It was also claimed that he forced Rebekah to have sex with other men at parties and at one point she was raped while unconscious after being drugged by the ex-Met cop.

These allegations of coercive control were being investigated by police when Rebekah was found dead in a blood-drenched hotel room while on holiday in Barbados earlier this year.

On his return to Heathrow, Arter was arrested on allegations of serious offences, including rape, not related to Rebekah. Two weeks later Arter was discovered dead in his jail cell.

Rebekah met Arter in 2007 when she reported a complaint of domestic violence to police and Arter was the investigator, a detective sergeant working on a community safety unit.

They began dating, which was part of his pattern of inappropriate relationships with vulnerable victims.

Six months after meeting Rebekah, he moved into the home she shared with her young son Elliot in Welling, South London, and they married in Las Vegas in 2016.

But when they returned from their honeymoon, Met anti-corruption officers were waiting and he was suspended from duty on suspicion of having sex with vulnerable rape victims.

Arter went down a rabbit hole of cocaine and sex, staying out all night, sleeping during the day and having nose bleeds from drug abuse, friends said.

And he reportedly forced his wife to do so with him, ‘under his complete control’.

Friends said he made her wear revealing clothing and stilettos, saying that she ‘was not the woman she was when she met Warren.’

Arter was barred from policing after his sordid role in cocaine-fuelled parties where he turned a blind eye to drug taking and suspected exploitation was revealed in a police misconduct hearing.

Drugged and raped women before ‘broadcasting it online’ 

Yet another example, which bore some similarities to the ‘Monster of Avignon’, saw Daniel Bishop, of Bristol, jailed for 14 years and eight months with extended licence of eight years in 2022.

This was after he plead guilty to three rapes, three attempted rapes, a sexual assault and administering a noxious substance. Bishop, who was 43 at the time of his sentencing, slipped date rape drug GHB into his victims drink, before assaulting her and broadcasting it online.

Then, like Dominique Pélicot, he tried to get other men to similarly abuse her – though in this case, they refused.

Speaking after the conviction, Detective Constable Cheryl Aucott, the investigating police officer in the case, said: ‘Daniel Bishop has been convicted of a series of appalling offences following a sensitive and complex investigation.

‘The victim in this case has shown incredible bravery in supporting these court proceedings.

‘We hope this conviction encourages other victims of sexual offences to have the confidence to report incidents to us, so offenders can be brought to justice.’

GP ‘plied student nurse’ with drugs and raped her

In June 2022, GP Manesh Gill, then 39, was sentenced to four years at the High Court in Edinburgh after being convicted of an assault that took place in 2018.

The father-of-three invited a woman, a student nurse, he had met on dating app Tinder to a hotel, before giving her a strong drink, which is believed to have been spiked with morphine. He then raped her.

Describing the attack, the woman said: ‘He was on top of me. I was trying to push him off. I couldn’t.

‘I just felt like my whole body was stuck to the bed. He was having sex with me. I wanted to go home. I felt as if I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything. My body shut down.’

Following the sentencing, Detective Inspector Forbes Wilson of the Public Protection Unit said: ‘The conviction and sentencing of Gill sends a clear message to anyone found guilty of sexual offences, you will be brought to justice.

‘Gill must now face the consequences for his horrific behaviour.

‘The victim has shown tremendous bravery in coming forward and telling her story and I would like to thank her for her assistance during our investigation. I hope today’s outcome will give her some form of closure.’

Secretly drugged and raped his girlfriend – then showed her videos 

Worrying, while many of the police involved in these investigations have praised the victims for their bravery in coming forward, in one case, a woman accused a Met police officer of making inappropriate comments to her.

Juliana Terlizzi, who waived her right to anonymity, was drugged, filmed and blackmailed by her ex-boyfriend Hubert Greliak, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in December 2022, after being found guilty of rape.

According to Juliana, Greliak drugged her, then filmed himself raping her, showing her the videos afterwards.

Describing how the police officer’s comments had made her feel, Juliana said: ‘I said this is abuse, this person is being sexually inappropriate with me, he knows I’m a rape victim.

‘Because he was the investigating officer he had access to those videos – I was naked, I was vulnerable. He should not have strayed anywhere near that type of conversation.’

The police said an investigation into the comments would be taking place.

Juliana is now working with her MP, Richmond Park’s Sarah Olney, on a campaign to allow rape victims access to transcripts from their trial for free, after applying to see hers’ and being asked to pay £7,500.

Drugged and sexually assaulted two girlfriends  

Earlier this year, Jonathon Baker, 46, from Wolverhampton, was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being found guilty of assaulting two women he’d started relationships with.

The crimes were committed between 2013 and 2018, and only came to light when the two victims came forward. 

It emerged that Baker initially made the women ‘feel like the most important woman in the world’, his abusive behaviour escalated, until he drugged and sexually assaulting one of them.

Baker reportedly initially told police that all activity between him and the women were consensual, before denying everything. He is said to laughed when it the drugging allegation was put to him.

Despite his denials, he was found guilty of rape, sexual assault and administering a substance to enable sexual activity at Wolverhampton Crown Court

Brothers attacked women during 20-year spree

Another particularly chilling case saw two brothers working together to drug, beat and rape women – often keeping their victims in their caravan for days at a time.

It is believed that Graham and Simon Laskey, from Wales, who would go on to face a sentence of life imprisonment for the offences, started their 20-year criminal reign as far back as the 1960s, often using lonely hearts columns to find women.

They were able to continue to commit their crimes as their victims were too terrified to come forward – until one teenager told her mother about being attacked by the brothers. It was discovered that the mother had also been a victim of the Laskeys.

Once the brothers were locked up on remand, witnesses felt safe to come forward with their experiences – independently sharing very similar stories, about how they were drugged – most likely with tea spiked with sedatives – before being raped and beaten.

They were tried in 1999, after police had undertaken a major investigation, which included some 200 witness interviews.

Graham Laskey, then 49, was convicted of five rapes, five other serious sexual offences, four indecent assaults on women, and an indecent assault on a baby, receiving 10 life sentences.

Meanwhile, his brother Simon, then 37, was convicted of five rapes and one serious sexual offence, and was handed six life sentences.

22 years for drugging, rape, and bigamy 

In February 2023, Frederick Allchorne, then 62, from Wiltshire, was handed a 22 year prison sentence Croydon Crown Court after pleading guilty to two counts of rape, five counts of administering a stupefying or overpowering drug with intent, five counts of indecent assault on a woman over 16 and one count of bigamy.

According to reports, the victim was a woman who was in her 50s when she reported the abuse in 2018. Shockingly, it had started in the mid-80s, when she was 15-years-old.

Among the horrifying abuse reported by the victim, Allchorne drugged and raped her on multiple occasions, with the woman even waking up to find herself tied to the bed more than once.

On one occasion, after waking up feeling like she was choking, the woman went to hospital. A medical report undertaken during the investigation said the symptoms she had presented were consistent with the effects of drugs being administered.

The relationship ended when the woman left Allchorne in 1991.

Following the conviction, she encouraged other victims to come forward, saying: ‘The officers believed in me, you have to come forward yourself. If you don’t it will catch up on you one day, it’s time to take back control. Don’t suffer in silence, you are not alone. Please come forward and you will be heard.’

Caught after arranging to meet undercover officer – posing as a child

In another case in Wales, the victim had no idea she’d been raped, until messages and imagery of the attacks came to light during an investigation.

Cynric Parry, then 64, would ply his victim with Rohypnol – a drug often used to render victims of drug facilitated rape unconscious.

Then, he would assault her while she was unconscious. 

He would often invite his friend, Carwyn Jones, then 39, to join him.

Jones would then join in on the attacks.

Their activities came to light when a police officer posing as a 13 year-old girl was speaking to from Parry, from Llandudno, on social media platform KIK.

Despite repeatedly saying she was 13, Parry sent repeated sexual imagery and videos to the undercover officer.

He eventually asked her to meet up, saying he wanted to have sex with her – even though Parry believed the person he was in contact with was just a 13-year-old child at this point in time.

At this point, police decided to arrest Parry.

This is when they found the videos of him raping his drugged victim. 

Previously, she had been unaware that the assaults were taking place.

In November, Parry was eventually sentenced to 15 years behind bars and five years on licence.

This was after being charged with eight counts of assault by penetration, five counts of sexual assault and one count of rape.

This was in addition to five counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, three counts of attempting to cause a child to look at images of sexual activity, and one count of attempting to arrange the commission of child sex offence.

A further offence included one count of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

This related to his communications with the undercover police officer, who he believed was a 13-year-old girl while they were in touch with each other in social media app KIK.