PARIS (AP) — French actor Gérard Depardieu will face a criminal trial in October over the alleged sexual assaults in 2021 of two women on the set of a film, prosecutors announced Monday.
The 75-year-old actor, who previously has denied any wrongdoing, was detained for questioning by police in Paris for several hours earlier Monday. His lawyer, Christian Saint-Palais, later declined to comment to reporters other than to say that the actor was no longer in custody.
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PARIS (AP) — French actor Gérard Depardieu will face a criminal trial in October over the alleged sexual assaults in 2021 of two women on the set of a film, prosecutors announced Monday.
Reporters wait outside the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is being questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gerard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French actor Gerard Depardieu's lawyer Christian Saint-Palais returns at the police stations Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gerard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French actor Gerard Depardieu's lawyer Christian Saint-Palais answers a call Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Police officers stand outside the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is expected to be questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
View of the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is expected to be questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
FILE - Actor Gerard Depardieu addresses the media during the press conference for the film 'Saint Amour' at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. Broadcaster BFMTV and the daily Le Parisien both reported that the 75-year-old actor was called in for police questioning in Paris on Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Axel Schmidt, File)
The Paris public prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the actor has been “summoned to appear before the criminal court” after the questioning.
A trial will start in October “for sexual assaults likely to have been committed in September 2021” against “two victims, on the set of the film ‘The Green Shutters,’ ” the statement said. It did not name the alleged victims.
French newspaper Le Parisien has reported that a 53-year-old movie decorator has alleged that Depardieu grabbed her and kneaded her waist, stomach and breasts during filming for “Les Volets verts,” or “The Green Shutters,” according to the woman’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, when she filed the complaint to the Paris prosecutor’s office in February.
In an open letter last October, Depardieu said: “I have never, ever abused a woman.”
Depardieu has also been accused by more than a dozen other women of harassing, groping or sexually assaulting them. He was handed preliminary rape and sexual assault charges in 2020 following allegations from actor Charlotte Arnould.
In that case, the investigating judge completed his probe on April 17 and transferred the file to the Paris public prosecutor’s office “to review and determine next steps in the proceeding,” the prosecutor's office said Monday.
Depardieu was long seen as a national icon in France. He has been a global ambassador for French film and enjoyed international fame with several roles in Hollywood.
The latest episode involving Depardieu came as French cinema is roiled by a #metoo awakening following actor Judith Godrèche’s call for France’s film industry to “face the truth” on sexual violence and physical abuse. She made that appeal during a live broadcast in February of the Cesar Awards ceremony, France’s version of the Oscars.
Barbara Surk reported from Nice, France. AP writer John Leicester in Le Pecq, France, contributed.
French actor Gerard Depardieu's lawyer Christian Saint-Palais answers a call Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Reporters wait outside the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is being questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gerard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French actor Gerard Depardieu's lawyer Christian Saint-Palais returns at the police stations Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gerard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French actor Gerard Depardieu's lawyer Christian Saint-Palais answers a call Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Police officers stand outside the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is expected to be questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
View of the police station where French actor Gerard Depardieu is expected to be questioned, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
FILE - Actor Gerard Depardieu addresses the media during the press conference for the film 'Saint Amour' at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. Broadcaster BFMTV and the daily Le Parisien both reported that the 75-year-old actor was called in for police questioning in Paris on Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Axel Schmidt, File)
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Police have said repeatedly in the aftermath of Maine’s deadliest shooting that officers thought the gunman’s family had been taking his weapons away.
Testifying before an investigative committee on Thursday, the gunman’s sister-in-law suggested that law enforcement officers should have known this wasn’t true, because she and her husband, Ryan Card, told a deputy on the phone a month before Robert Card killed 18 people that he still had access to weapons, despite his deteriorating mental health.
“My husband will always blame himself, even though it shouldn’t be blamed on him. He will always blame,” Katie Card said. “So I will, always."
The revelation came during the first public testimony from Card’s relatives. One after another spoke of frustrating attempts to get help, and offered emotional apologies to the victims and their family members.
The independent commission appointed by the governor already heard from police, victims and their families, and other Army reservists about the deadliest shooting in Maine history. Card, 40, killed himself after opening fire with an assault rifle inside a bowling alley and a bar and grill in Lewiston in October.
In the aftermath, the legislature passed new gun laws for Maine, a state with a long tradition of firearms ownership. Among other things, they bolstered the state’s “yellow flag” law, criminalized the transfer of guns to prohibited people and expanded funding for mental health crisis care.
Card’s family had kept a low profile after the tragedy, other than releasing a statement in March expressing deep sorrow and disclosing an analysis of Card’s brain tissue that showed evidence of traumatic brain injuries. Card had trained others in the use of hand grenades, and the family blamed the repeated blasts for his mental decline.
The commission issued an interim report in March saying law enforcement should have seized Card’s guns and put him in protective custody based on the warnings from family and reservists, using the existing yellow flag law. A full report is due this summer.
Police testified that the family had agreed to remove Card’s guns, but the commission said leaving such a task to them “was an abdication of law enforcement’s responsibility.”
Katie Card said Thursday that a deputy had applied pressure — to his brother Ryan in particular — to offer assurances that the guns were taken away so that the deputy could wrap up his investigation ahead of a two-week vacation. She said she and her husband “both expressed that day (to the deputy) and multiple times after that we had been unsuccessful.”
She said she and Ryan Card, whom she described as a retired Army ranger who is disabled after deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, remain wracked with guilt even though it was unfair for law enforcement to make estranged family members responsible for removing Card’s guns.
Other relatives also vented their frustrations, blaming the military, law enforcement and media coverage. James Herling, husband of the gunman’s sister, singled out the Army Reserves for declining to answer the phone or return their calls as they sought help. Card’s ex-wife, Cara Lamb, accused police of ignoring or dismissing warning signs.
Nicole Herling, the guman's sister, said military personnel deserve better protections: “It’s unjust to continue training with explosions and sonic booms until there are protective gear and standards ensuring the safety of all of our soldier’s brains.”
“This is not an excuse for the behavior or acts that Robbie committed,” James Herling testified. “It was a wrongful act of evil. My brother-in-law was not this man. His brain was hijacked.”
An Army spokesperson said Thursday that Army “is committed to understanding how brain health is affected and to implementing evidence-based risk mitigation and treatment” and that the Army this year is conducting cognitive assessments of trainees that can be repeated to identify changes.
As for the mass shooting, the Army Reserves and the Army inspector general are conducting separate investigations into the events and “more details may become available once the investigation is complete.”
Lamb said their teenage son was so concerned about Card’s growing paranoia and access to guns that she shared his worries with a school resource officer in May 2023. This should’ve been a “flashing sign that we have a problem here,” she said.
Fellow Army reservists witnessed Card’s deterioration, to the point that he was hospitalized for two weeks during training last summer. One reservist, Sean Hodgson, told superiors on Sept. 15: “I believe he’s going to snap and do a mass shooting.”
Lamb, for her part, said she herself encouraged officers not to confront her ex-husband for fear of escalation, and harm to her son’s relationship with his father, but now questions that approach.
“I keep wondering if the right thing to do would’ve been to say, ‘Damn it all, damn everyone’s feelings and repercussions,’ and go scream at the police — ‘What do we have to do?!’” she testified.
Sharp reported from Portland, Maine.
Cara Lamb, ex-wife of shooter Robert Card, testifies, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine, during a hearing of the independent commission investigating the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Cara Lamb, ex-wife of shooter Robert Card, is comforted as she testifies, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine, during a hearing of the independent commission investigating the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Nicole Herling, sister of shooter Robert Card, rests her hand on her brother's military helmet, while testifying, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine, during a hearing of the independent commission investigating the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Cara Lamb, ex-wife of shooter Robert Card, testifies, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine, during a hearing of the independent commission investigating the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Nicole Herling, sister of shooter Robert Card, testifies Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine, during a hearing of the independent commission investigating the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Members of the independent commission investigating the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, listen as Nicole Herling, sister of shooter Robert Card, testifies, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Nicole Herling, sister of shooter Robert Card, testifies, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine, during a hearing of the independent commission investigating the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Cara Lamb, ex-wife of shooter Robert Card, testifies, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine, during a hearing of the independent commission investigating the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
James Herling pauses his testimony while recalling the moment he realized the shooter was his brother-in-law, Robert Card, while testifying, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Augusta, Maine, during a hearing of the independent commission investigating the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. Nicole Herling, sister of the shooter, cries on her husband's shoulder. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
FILE - Community members look at a memorial outside Schemengees Bar & Grille about one week after a mass shooting, Nov. 3, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. An independent commission investigating the mass shooting that left 18 people dead in Maine is scheduled to hear from the family of the shooter, Robert Card, for the first time on Thursday, May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
