Dominique Boutonnat, the president of the National Film Board, France’s most powerful film institution, has received a three-year prison sentence, including two suspended, over sexual assault charges.
Boutonnat has stepped down from the CNC in the wake of the verdict on June 28 and is being replaced by Olivier Henrard, Variety has confirmed.
The judge’s ruling appears stronger than the initial recommandation of the Paris prosecutor who had requested a three-year suspended prison sentence on June 14. Boutonnat is expected to live under house arrest with an electronic bracelet for one year, according to local reports.
Boutonnat was indicted in February 2021 for the alleged sexual assault of his then 19-year-old godson in August 2020, during a vacation in Greece. But in spite of the indictment, Boutonnat was re-upped by the French government in 2022 and served a second mandate which was meant to end next year.
Having previously denied all accusations, Boutonnat is expected to appeal the ruling. Variety has contacted Boutonnat’s lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny, for comment. The CNC reacted to the verdict in a statement sent to Variety which said the “allegations concern the private sphere and have nothing to do with the CNC’s activities whose functioning were not affected by the undertaking of the judicial procedure.”
The film executive, who has close ties with France President Emmanuel Macron, was slammed by an investigative story that ran in Liberation and a petition to remove him from office on the eve of the Cannes Film Festival. The petition has collected more 4,551 anonymous signatures and is being endorsed by various orgs, including the Collectif 50/50, MeTooMédia and the labor union CGT Spectacle, as well as actor-director Judith Godrèche. The latter has catalyzed a #MeToo reckoning in France after accusing filmmakers Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.
While Boutonnat was allowed remained at the helm of the National Film Board, the film body set up several policies, including workshops for film professionals, aimed at fighting sexual violence. During an audition at the Senate earlier this week, Godrèche said the situation at the CNC symbolized the country’s reluctance to embrace the #MeToo movement. But France’s culture minister Rachida Dati had argued Boutonnat should stay in post because he benefits from the presumption of innocence.
Even if he had not been sentenced to prison, Boutonnat’s second mandate at the CNC would have likely been cut short due to the country’s ongoing political upheaval. The ruling comes as Macron’s government is being radically challenged by the skyrocketing popularity of the far right party Rassemblement National. Following Marcron’s shock decision to dissolve the National Assembly, the snap parliamentary elections will host their first round on Sunday.
Source Agencies
