Footballer Benjamin Mendy is accused of rape by seven women, including a minor. He has been appearing since August 10, 2022 at the court in Chester, England. A first complainant was heard on Wednesday August 17.
Benjamin Mendy is charged with eight rapes, one attempted rape and sexual assault by seven women. The facts allegedly took place between October 2018 and August 2021, in the footballer’s mansion, located three quarters of an hour from Manchester, the city in which he played. Another man, Louis Saha Matturie, is his co-defendant in this case. Close to Benjamin Mendy, he is accused of eight rapes and four sexual assaults. At the end of their trial, the two men face life imprisonment. The 2018 soccer world champion pleads not guilty.
On Wednesday August 17, 2022, a first complainant was heard in this case. During her testimony, she recounted an evening in October 2018 during which, after drinking games in a restaurant, Benjamin Mendy told her “when he will not look, I will kidnap you”, reports 20 minutes. At the time, the woman explains that she thought it was a joke. She then went to the player’s home, where she fell asleep while drunk. When she woke up, the young woman explained how the football player got into the bathroom when she was taking a shower and he didn’t come out, despite her repeated requests. In her testimony, the 32-year-old woman says that Benjamin Mendy sat her on top of him, while she was wearing only a towel, that he took off his boxers and pointed his penis in her direction, while she “kept pushing him away,” she explains. Confused, she fails to call for help, but ends up leaving the mansion.
What are the charges against Benjamin Mendy?
On August 15, 2022, prosecutor Timothy Cray revealed the details of the charges against the footballer and Louis Saha Matturie. He presented the two men as “predators ready to commit serious sexual abuse”, reports France Info. Benjamin Mendy is accused of raping and assaulting seven “vulnerable, terrified and isolated” women, in the words of the prosecutor. He detailed the role of Louis Saha Matturie, himself accused of eight rapes and four sexual assaults, who is described as a “beater”. Thus, he was responsible for “finding young women and creating situations where they could be raped and sexually assaulted”, continues the prosecutor.