In June 2019, the prosecution concluded its preliminary investigation after nine months by explaining that "the numerous investigations carried out" had "not made it possible to characterize the offenses denounced in all their constituent elements".

The Paris prosecutor's office has asked an examining magistrate to investigate the rape accusations against Gérard Depardieu, who disputes them, after having initially closed the procedure, AFP learned on Saturday from the public prosecutor. To relaunch the investigations, the complainant, an actress in her twenties, had filed a complaint with a civil action after this classification without follow-up in the spring of 2019.

Facts dating back to summer 2018

Complaints with the constitution of a civil party make it possible almost automatically to obtain the opening of a judicial investigation and the designation of an investigating magistrate. On Friday, the Paris prosecutor's office made requisitions for the purpose of informing the count of rape, he said. It is now up to this examining magistrate to decide whether or not to launch investigations, which he does in almost all cases. 

In June 2019, the prosecution concluded its preliminary investigation after nine months by explaining that "the numerous investigations carried out" had "not made it possible to characterize the offenses denounced in all their constituent elements". A first complaint was filed at the end of August 2018 at the gendarmerie of Lambesc (Bouches-du-Rhône) by this young actress. According to the latter, the facts she denounces took place at the star's Parisian home, a mansion in the 6th arrondissement, on August 7 and 13, 2018.

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The Aix-en-Provence prosecutor's office immediately opened a preliminary investigation before relinquishing it in favor of the Paris prosecutor's office, which had entrusted the investigations to the 3rd district of the judicial police (DPJ). The 71-year-old actor, sacred monster of the cinema, had been heard in open hearing by the police. He is one of the French personalities to have been targeted by a complaint for rape or sexual assault since the fall of the American producer Harvey Weinstein in 2017. The #MeToo wave then swept beyond the world of cinema, affecting in particular the worlds of politics and sport.

Contacted by AFP, Gérard Depardieu's lawyer, Me Hervé Témime, did not wish to react.