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France·Human Rights

French director Christophe Ruggia receives stiffer sentence on appeal for child sexual abuse

Friday, 17 April 2026, 18:04 · 1 min read

A Paris appeals court has increased the sentence of French film director Christophe Ruggia to five years — three of them suspended — for sexually assaulting actor Adèle Haenel when she was between 12 and 14 years old in the early 2000s. The original four-year sentence handed down in February 2025 was extended following the appeal, though Ruggia, 61, will still serve two years under electronic monitoring. The case is considered a landmark moment in France's #MeToo reckoning, as Haenel — known internationally for the 2019 film "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" — was among the first prominent figures to publicly accuse the French film industry of ignoring systemic sexual abuse.

Sources
France24French film director Christophe Ruggia gets five-year sentence on appeal for abusing child actor ↗︎
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