Playwright Pierre Notte indicted for rape of a former student

The director, a figure in French theater, is the subject of a complaint filed in December 2021 by one of his former students who speaks in “Libération” of a relationship of “subjugation”.

The playwright and writer Pierre Notte was indicted on April 25 for “rape of a minor by abusing the status conferred on him by his position”, franceinfo learned Monday May 6 from the Paris prosecutor’s office, confirming information from Release. His lawyer, Jean-Baptiste Riolacci, specifies that he was also placed under the status of assisted witness for “rape committed by a person who is or has been a cohabitant”. He is currently placed under judicial supervision.

The complainant, Alban K., a former student of Pierre Notte, now 37 years old, filed a complaint in December 2021 against the director for “rape and sexual assault of a minor by an adult in authority”. To try to speed up the procedure, he filed another complaint with a civil party in September 2022 – “requiring the appointment of an investigating judge” — Alban K.’s lawyers, Léa Forestier and Alix Aubenas, tell franceinfo. “He had very dark thoughts,” they slip.

The two men met when Pierre Notte, now 54 years old, was “speaking as part of theater workshops given in the high school in which Alban K studied.”specifies Jean-Baptiste Riolacci, adding that they “had a romantic relationship for seven years. The indictment of Pierre Notte concerns the period from March 2004 to January 2005, i.e. the beginning of the relationship between the two men, when Alban K. was still a minor.

A relationship “dominated by fear”

Alban K. claims to have suffered “several rapes” on the part of Pierre Notte, underline his lawyers. In his complaint, cited by Releasehe talks about a relationship “addiction dominated by fear” and a “subjugation”. He described abusive behavior to the newspaper, claiming that the playwright forbade him, for example, to wash, under penalty of “endless crises”. He also says that his diet was very controlled. “There was no freedom either in the choice of foods or in their always restricted quantity”he told the daily.

A preliminary investigation took place, during which “the investigators went to consult Pierre Notte’s entourage as well as several of his former students from the theater workshop during which he met Alban K.”confides a source close to the matter, who notes that“no other accusations emerged”. At the end of this investigation, a confrontation took place between the two men at the end of April, adds this same source.

Near ReleasePierre Notte, presumed innocent, says “destroyed by the situation”claiming to have lived “a love story”. He emphasizes that their “numerous exchanges (the letters, the audio messages that he [lui] left, the photos and emails that he [lui] addressed, etc.) show that Alban was neither terrorized, nor impressed, nor constrained, nor forced, nor submissive”.