Film director found guilty of sexual assault in France's first big MeToo trial

PARIS: A Paris court has found a filmmaker guilty of sexual assault on French actor Adele Haenel when she was between 12 and 15 in the early 2000s, in the country's first big MeToo trial.

Filmmaker Christophe Ruggia was sentenced Monday to two years under house arrest with an electronic bracelet plus a two-year suspended sentence. Ruggia had denied any wrongdoing.

Haenel, now 35, was the first top actor in France to accuse the film industry of turning a blind eye to sexual abuse after the MeToo movement broke out.

In 2019, she accused Ruggia of having repeatedly touched her inappropriately during and after filming of the movie "Les Diables" ("The Devils") in the early 2000s.