Salim Berrada, 38, was sentenced this Friday March 29 to 18 years in prison by the Paris criminal court. This photographer was on trial for having raped or sexually assaulted 17 young women between 2014 and 2016. The complainants, aged 18 to 28 at the time of the events, denounced forced kisses, imposed fellatio as well as non-consensual digital and vaginal penetration.
Arriving in France at the age of 18 and then graduating from an engineering school, Salim Berrada launched into photography in 2013. The young man of Moroccan nationality settled in Paris and then quickly became a little fame on Facebook groups connecting photographers and apprentice models.
Dizziness and blurred memories
“This side, both wild and distinguished, attracts me, I would like to have you under my lens,”
wrote Salim Berrada to dozens of young women on various social networks. After a few exchanges punctuated with compliments and jokes, he offered to photograph them for free because they “inspire” him. Flattered to interact with this budding photographer, some young women agreed to go to Salim Berrada's studio, in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, for a photo shoot.
On site, the photographer encouraged the young women to drink alcohol before the shoot. As it began, complainants described
“dizziness”
,
“the feeling of no longer controlling their muscles”
,
“blurry memories”
or even
“a black hole”
. All of them depicted Salim Berrada who suddenly changed his face, jumped on her by surprise and imposed violent sexual acts on them despite their repeated refusals. Traces of MDMA, usually known as ecstasy, and substances with sedative properties were found in the hair of more than half of them.
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“A very well-established operating procedure”
Despite the chilling testimonies of the complainants, seated close to each other during the two weeks of trial, the accused persisted in his denials. He spoke of consensual sexual relations or which simply did not exist. Salim Berrada assured that the young women
“knew from the start that he was not only inviting them for the photos and that it was not only professional”
. According to him, some young women filed complaints because they regretted having slept with him on the first night and felt
“used”
.
A sentence of nineteen years of criminal imprisonment accompanied by a definitive ban from French territory was requested by the attorney general, Philippe Courroye. The magistrate had noted several
“salient”
elements of this
“exceptional case”
:
“the very well-established, devious, compulsive modus operandi”
of the accused, the
“extreme dangerousness”
of this
“hunter”
,
“addicted to sex and predation”
.
“He is dangerous”
also
“because he has no capacity for introspection
,” added the magistrate, recalling that he is also indicted in another case for similar facts.
“How can you expect a change in behavior... he doesn’t recognize anything
,” lamented the attorney general.