French director Christophe Ruggia has been sentenced to two years of house arrest after being found guilty of sexually abusing actress Adèle Haenel, according to multiple reports.
He will have an electronic bracelet for those two years, with an additional two years suspended. Ruggia denies any wrongdoing.
The “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actress first accused the filmmaker of sexual harassment in 2019, years after they worked together on 2002’s “The Devils” when she was just a teenager. In her initial complaint, Haenel said the abuse — including “forced kisses” — occurred from the ages of 12 to 15. The director was 36 when it started.
“Christophe told me that he was in love with me and that the age difference was a curse for him, and that, unfortunately, I was an adult in a child’s body,” Haenel told investigators in France at the time.
“Now that the judiciary has opened an investigation, I won’t hide the fact that I will do everything in my power to see this process through to the end,” she later added. “What I hope for now personally is support and compensation from the justice system.”
Fellow french actress Judith Godrèche and director Céline Sciamma were also in attendance at the Paris Courthouse on Monday to support Haenel, who in turn is credited with starting the #MeToo Movement in France.
“You took advantage of the influence you had on the young actress Adèle Haenel,” judge Gilles Fonrouge said in his ruling. Ruggia’s lawyers subsequently indicated they intend to appeal the verdict.
