French pop icon Patrick Bruel faces fresh sexual abuse complaints as prosecutors widen #MeToo probe

NANTERRE, June 14 — Two women have filed new complaints of sexual abuse against French pop icon Patrick Bruel, prosecutors and their lawyer said Saturday, in the latest accusations against the singer under investigation.

The 67-year-old, a major figure in French popular culture with several top selling albums and dozens of film appearances, denies any wrongdoing.

Bruel is the latest top French celebrity to face questioning in the wake of the #MeToo movement, after film star Gerard Depardieu was handed a suspended 18-month prison sentence last year for sexually assaulting two women on a film set.

In the latest two complaints filed on Friday, one woman accuses Bruel of attempted rape and sexual assault during a film festival in the overseas territory of La Reunion in 2007, the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre and lawyer Jade Dousselin said.

The other woman alleges he committed rape and sexual assault against her in 2012, the same sources said.

Allegations have piled up against Bruel, some dating back to the 1990s.

Investigating magistrates on Wednesday charged him with rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment in four cases, three for alleged acts in France and one in Belgium.

They said he was to be investigated — but not charged — in four other cases, including two of suspected rape.

A ninth case of alleged rape was deemed to have happened too long ago to be prosecuted.

Another 13 people have accused him of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment from 1992 to 2008, but prosecutors have yet to assess whether they are past the statute of limitations.

Three other complaints — two for rape and one for attempted rape — have also either been or will be filed against him.

Bruel is under judicial supervision, meaning he is not allowed to leave French territory. — AFP