French filmmaker found guilty of abusing child actor Adèle Haenel

A French film director has been found guilty of sexually assaulting actor Adèle Haenel when she was underage.

Christophe Ruggia, 60, was given a four-year sentence, two of which were suspended. He will spend two years under house arrest, when he will also have to wear an electronic bracelet.

In addition to the sentence, Ruggia has been ordered to pay €15,000 (£12,500) to Haenel in compensation, as well as €20,000 for the years of psychological therapy she had as a result of the abuse.

The court president said Ruggia had "taken advantage" of his influence over Haenel, who was aged between 12 and 15 at the time of the assaults.

Ruggia's lawyer Fanny Collin said he would appeal the sentence.

Haenel, now 35, was applauded by women's rights activists as she left the courtroom in Paris, as had been the case during the earlier phases of the trial.

Reporters in court on Monday said she appeared nervous before the verdict but showed no reaction as Ruggia's sentencing was read out.

Haenel alleged that Ruggia started molesting her during the shoot of his 2002 film Les Diables (The Devils), when she was 12, which he denied.

The film is an incestuous tale of a relationship between a boy and his autistic sister, and features sex scenes involving the children including close-ups of Haenel's naked body.

Before the trial, investigators had spoken to members of the film's crew who told them of their unease at Ruggia's behaviour on set.

A summary of the charges quoted by French media says Ruggia and Haenel continued to see each other every Saturday after the shooting of the film wrapped up, "under the guise of film lessons" during which Ruggia would allegedly touch her sexually and put his hands in her underwear.

During interviews with French media, Haenel also said she was controlled and manipulated by Ruggia when she was a child and that nobody protected her when she was "asked to do things in the name of art".

In court late last year, Ruggia denied the accusations, arguing that he had merely tried to "protect" Haenel during the early days of her fame.

Investigators had also said they had found notes on Ruggia's computer in which he wrote about 12-year-old Haenel's "overflowing sensuality".

Ruggia said Haenel had been "radicalised" and that he thought he was a lightning rod for France's #MeToo movement.

His comments eventually led Haenel to shout at him to "shut up" before storming out in the middle of the trial last December.

Haenel starred in the acclaimed 2019 film Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

The same year, she gave a lengthy and emotional interview to French outlet Mediapart in which she detailed what she called the "sexual harassment" she suffered at Ruggia's hands.

She said she had decided to speak out about her alleged abuse after watching the documentary Leaving Neverland, which explored the singer Michael Jackson's relationships with children.

"It made me see I had clung for too long to the version of Ruggia, that it had all been a story of love," she said, adding that it made her understand the mechanisms of "control and fascination".

Haenel quit the French film industry in 2023 in protest at what she called its "complacency" towards sexual predators.

Since then, actor Gérard Depardieu has been accused of rape and is due to stand trial next month. Film directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon have also been accused of rape and sexual offences by actress Judith Godrèche.

Director Céline Sciamma, Haenel's ex-partner and the director of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and Godrèche were in the courtroom to hear the verdict on Monday.