Revealed: How Monster of Avignons oldest rape accomplice, 72, slipped into a world of sexual depravity after promising himself a good retirement

Its a case which has exposed in stark detail the disturbing underbelly of French society - but of all the evidence given at the so-called Monster of Avignon trial, few has been stranger than the defence of the oldest man accused of raping a drugged grandmother: that he is a deeply religious man who respects women.

Jacques Cubeau - at 72 the only man of the dozens on trial for raping Gisele Pelicot who is older than the victim herself - told the court in Avignon that he had been drawn into the twisted world of sex with strangers because he had promised himself a good retirement.

Cubeau, a retired firefighter, recounted how he had come across Pelicots twisted husband Dominique - who has admitted drugging his wife repeatedly over a decade and inviting strange men to rape her while he filmed them - after he broke up with his wife and became estranged from their adult children.

This abrupt shift in Cubeaus previously apparently conventional lifestyle also saw him quit his job as a fire-fighter and became a lorry driver.

Newly single and lonely, and routinely driving alone across great swathes of the continent for days at a time, Cubeau began trying to find hook-ups with strangers some 20 years ago.

Pictured: Retired marine fire-fighter Jacques Cubeau, who is accused of raping Gisele Pelicot

Gisele Pelicot, 71, was routinely sedated without her knowledge by her depraved husband Dominique at their retirement chalet in Mazan. She is pictured arriving at court yesterday

Dominique Pelicot has admitted drugging his wife repeatedly over a decade and inviting strange men to rape her while he filmed them 

And as he was drawn into this seedy world, soon it wouldnt be just one person but threesomes with couples he was engaging in - and which was how he apparently found a shared interest with Dominique Pelicot.

Cubeau met him after he moved to the same historic village in Provence to which the Pelicots too had retired.

There by day he undertook voluntary work for a local charity, acting as a driver for disabled children - but by night he continued to trawl for sexual encounters with strangers.

He told the court; I had a religious education in which you are taught to do good. I believed I should take care of myself in my retirement.

He added: I have always respected women and tried to give them pleasure.

Grey-haired and walking with a cane, the overweight Frenchman issued an apparently emotional apology to Gisele Pelicot when he gave evidence in court in the case that has horrified France.

Turning to face her, he said: Madame, when I discovered what you had suffered, I was devastated.

Having participated in all of this destroyed me. I hope that you, your family, will overcome all of this.

Ms Pelicot didnt appear to react or acknowledge this.

Dominique Pelicot appears during his trial with 50 co-accused at the courthouse in Avignon, France, September 17, 2024 

Perhaps this was because the apology didnt extend to being an admission fo guilt: like the great majority of his 50 co-accused, Cubeau denies rape, maintaining that he believed he had been taking part in a consensual sex game when he walked naked into Madame Pelicots bedroom in February 2020.

However this defence of consent came with a peculiar footnote: he did admit that Pelicot had told him from the outset that his wife Gisele would be drugged up when he came for sex: Pelicot told me early on in our conversation, my wife takes sleeping tablets. And when she is asleep, I bring in men, he claimed.

Cubeau is one of seven men accused of raping Gisele Pelicot at her husbands command who have been unmasked for the first time.

Abuse took place in the town of Mazan, south of France, and was only uncovered after the man was caught up-skirting women in a local supermarket, prompting officers to search his home

Coming from all ages, lifestyles and social classes, these men revealed appear to have little in common – but will be forever linked by their shared desire for sex with a stranger in the most disturbing circumstances.

These men are motorcycle mechanic and amateur racer Huge Malago, 39, alcoholic farm-worker Andy Rodriguez, 37, odd-job worker Mathieu Dartus, 53, supermarket worker turned IT consultant Lionel Rodriguez, 44, painter and decorator Husamettin Dogan, 43, and Thierry Parisis, 54, a local businessman.

They have been at great pains to conceal their identities during the high-profile trial, wearing masks and hoods and using back entrances to court to avoid scrutiny - but MailOnline has now unmasked them.

The seven men are part of the group of 50 who were recruited online by retired electrician Dominique Pelicot – now known as the Monster of Avignon – to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious with powerful sedatives.

Gisele Pelicot, now 71, was routinely drugged by her husband of 50-years at their retirement home in Mazan, a quiet village in the shadow of Mont Ventoux, in Provence in the south of France.