FRENCH champion jockey, Pierre-Charles Boudot, was charged yesterday with the rape of a female rider at Cagnes-sur-Mer, prosecutors in Senlis announced.
Boudot, who won the 2019 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, is accused of raping the plaintiff on the night of February 17 on France's Cote d'Azur. He denies the charge.
"My client, a 25-year-old woman from Chantilly's racing community, was at a party," lawyer Justine Devred told AFP.
"It's highly likely she was made to drink or administered substances to make her incapable of consent.
"She has flashes, long periods, moments when her body was no longer responding," Devred added.
A second jockey has been charged with failure to report a crime in connection with the case.
Although the alleged assault took place at the racing centre of Cagnes-sur-Mer near Nice the case was moved to Senlis, near France's flat racing headquarters, Chantilly, where Boudot lives.
Under the terms of his 50,000 euro (RM249,000) bail, Boudot is banned from entering Chantilly's Oise region.
Boudot's lawyer Florence Gaudilliere said the jockey "categorically denies" the charge.
The 28-year-old, French champion in 2015, 2016 and 2020, is also being investigated for a second charge of rape, which he also denies, dating back to 2015.
In this case, he has been named as an assisted-witness, Jean-Baptiste Bladier, the prosecutor at Senlis north of Paris announced.
As in the February case, the plaintiff says she was drugged before being sexually assaulted.
Gaudilliere said her client had made a counter claim in the belief that "this latest accusation has been made to back up the first one".
Boudot was questioned and detained on Monday, with a confrontation with his accused taking place on Tuesday.
The plaintiff's lawyer Devred said: "There are very clear signs pointing to Mr Boudot's guilt. I have no doubts about the charge.
"There was already a first victim, now there is a second.
"There was the same way of operating, similar context, pretty girls, black holes, flashes, very different from what they could experience in parties where there is alcohol," she added.
According to Devred, Boudot said his relationship with her client had been "completely consensual".
One of Europe's top jockeys, Boudot won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 2019 on the Andre Fabre-trained Waldgeist, denying Enable a historic third win in the Longchamp feature.
He enjoyed a stellar 2020 season, his major wins including the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) and two Breeders Cup races, as well as ending the year with his third 'Cravache d'Or' title as champion jockey. ─ AFP, 13 May 2021
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