Former tennis coach Andrew Geddes, on appeal in Versailles for rapes of four of his former underage students, admitted Monday that he had become aware of his "guilt" and the "horrors" committed on the victims.
Sentenced a year ago at first instance to 18 years in prison, Andrew Geddes, now 53, appeared free after being released in June and placed under judicial supervision.
"I became aware of my guilt (...) and all the horrors I have done," said Andrew Geddes at the bar, admitting to having "made mistakes".
Since the trial at first instance, "I have put words into these horrors and today I know that returning to detention is a necessary step," he added, while he had until then always denied the rapes.
Hold and submission
In 2014, four young women accused him of rape and repeated sexual abuse for several years, when they were only teenagers.
During the two trials, they recounted the “hold”, “the submission” to which they were the subject for about two years each, in the early 2000s and in 2014 for the last.
At the time, Andrew Geddes enjoyed an excellent reputation as a strong coach, within the Sarcelles club, considered one of the best in Val-d'Oise, then at the Levallois Sporting Club (LSC).
Virginie (the first name has been changed), the youngest victim, aged 12 at the time and with a bright future, estimates that around 400 the number of sexual abuses she suffered between 1999 and 2000. The three other victims were between 15 and 17 years old at the time of the facts.
Andrew Geddes subjects them to brutal sexual practices, sometimes filmed, at his home, in his car, in the club's toilets or during internships in La Baule.
Asked Monday, an expert psychiatrist explained at the bar that the ex-trainer seemed "like a teenager (...) to have difficulty in deferring his desires, to take into account the lived experiences and to anticipate the consequences of his actions" .
"He could not not know what he was doing", assured the expert, stressing his "need to please" and his "psycho-sexual and psycho-emotional immaturity".
The pleadings of both parties and requisitions take place on Tuesday and the verdict is expected Wednesday.
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