The incident is said to have occurred almost three decades ago in the premises of the production company Roissy Films in Paris where she interviewed the actor.
In the report, which was first reported by Barcelona-based La Vanguardia, the journalist, who was 23 at the time while Depardieu was 46, describes “an assault without any consent” where she felt “paralyzed” during the incident.
Want to help other vulnerable people
The journalist told AFP that she had “completely forgotten” about the alleged abuse until she read the review by the French news site Media party published in April where 13 different women accused the actor of sexual violence. The article evoked fragments of memory that she says are corroborated by personal notes from the occasion.
The criminal complaint is considered to have little chance of leading to prosecution as the events have already passed the statute of limitations in France, but the journalist says she filed the complaint in the hope that it would “help other victims to do the same”.
A rape conviction can carry a maximum sentence of 15 years under the sexual consent law passed in Spain last year.