A French court has found former senator Joël Guerriau guilty of drugging a fellow lawmaker with the intent to sexually assault her, handing down a four-year prison sentence, with 18 months to be served in custody.
The victim, National Assembly MP Sandrine Josso, said the ruling was a "huge relief" after more than two years marked by trauma and recovery. She told the court she fell violently ill after drinking champagne at Guerriau's Paris apartment in November 2023, later discovering through toxicology tests that she had been given a high dose of MDMA.
Guerriau, who resigned from the Senate and was expelled from his party after the incident, said he would appeal the decision. Prosecutors had also sought to bar him from public office and place him on the sex offender register, stressing that as a lawmaker he had a duty to set an example.