The Paris criminal court will judge Salim Berrada, 38, from this Monday, March 18, suspected of having raped or assaulted several women met on Tinder, according to a procedure described as industrial.
The trial opens this Monday, March 18, 2024 and is due to end on March 29. Salim Berrada, 38, appears before the Paris criminal court. Nicknamed the “Tinder rapist”, he is suspected of having raped or sexually assaulted 17 women between 2014 and 2016. The man presented himself as a photographer looking for models to carry out shoots via the famous dating application. He disputes everything and only admits to having used his profession as a photographer as a “pretext” to attract women to his home and satisfy a “sex addiction”.
The indictment order consulted by France Info highlights an almost identical modus operandi applied by the accused to the complainants, namely, a “form of industrialization”. The 80-page document describes a “perverse” system that he allegedly put in place to attract his victims. He asserts that the complainants “regretted” a posteriori, or that they had “concerted” among themselves to harm him.
An industrial process and a chemical submission?
The police identified a well-oiled and similar modus operandi between the stories of the 17 complainants. Investigators even note a “form of industrialization” in the process put in place. A “specification precisely described in several Excel files” is even mentioned. Catchphrases, compliments… Everything seems to be fine-tuned. It all starts with a first contact on a social network or on the Tinder application directly.
Messages are sent en masse via fake accounts like that of Elias, in his thirties, shirtless in his profile photo. It is actually Salim Berrada. Then, an appointment is made for a photo shoot in his studio in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. On site, he offers alcohol to the women. He would then take advantage of this potential chemical submission to impose sexual relations on them. The accused is judged as “cold”, “determined” and endowed with “eyes of fury” by his alleged victims. Several also speak of an outbreak of violence. Some women speak of a state of abnormal and rapid intoxication after having accepted the glass of alcohol. Traces of drugs or antihistamines were found in several complainants.
Up to 20 years of imprisonment
Placed in pre-trial detention in 2016, after the complaint of a 22-year-old woman for rape who explained a similar procedure to the other complainants, including a photo session, a glass of wine offered by the photographer and dizziness before being Found naked on the studio sofa, Salim B. had remained in prison for two and a half years before being released under judicial supervision in 2019. With the arrival of new complaints, he was once again indicted for rape and assault sexual assault and placed in detention last July.
The departmental criminal court sits without a jury, it is only composed of 5 professional judges. Magistrates who must rule on the guilt or not of Salim B. The latter risks up to 20 years of imprisonment, the deliberation is expected on March 29, 2024. Finally, if the probabilities are tiny, the hearing could be postponed. Indeed, the defense lawyers could request additional information by citing an incomplete investigation and deficiencies in the file.