Director Christophe Ruggia sentenced on appeal

Five years in prison including two years for the filmmaker accused of sexual assault by Adèle Haenel.

This Friday, April 17, Christophe Ruggia was sentenced to five years in prison, including two years under an electronic bracelet.

In 2025, the filmmaker was sentenced at first instance to four years of imprisonment, two of which were closed. He appealed his conviction. Three years in prison were requested on January 23 by the prosecution.

Six years earlier, actress Adèle Haenel filed a complaint against director Christophe Ruggia, whom she accused of sexual assault on her, from the age of 12 to 14.

Adèle Haenel views this condemnation as “a huge victory and personal relief“. “JI will dedicate the rest of my life to fighting for justice and human rights and my immediate thoughts are with the women and child victims”, declares the actress to Médiapart.

Adèle Haenel said she met Christophe Ruggia during the filming of the film The Devilsvery quickly, their relationship “slipped into something else”, she confided to Médiapart. She then accused him “touching” and “sexual harassment”.

A case which is part of the numerous accusations of sexist and sexual violence which are shaking French cinema, like the Depardieu affair or the Jacquot affair.

The attorney general told the court in January that this case “has the particularity of taking place in the world of cinema, but basically, the mechanisms, the reality, this is what you find in all the cases on which you are called upon to rule: the riding teacher, the gymnastics teacher, the scout camp supervisor… It’s not a #MeToo, it’s sexual abuse of children”.