Gérard Miller, who has been a regular commentator on French radio and television since the 1990s, is one of several prominent men to have been accused of sexual offences. Investigating magistrates on Thursday, October 2nd, charged the 77-year-old with abusing the six women between 2000 and 2020—including raping three when they were minors over the age of 15—reports the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Miller is also being investigated over the alleged rape of another minor in 2000, it stated. The celebrity shrink has now been banned from practicing, coming into contact with minors, or appearing on television.
The Paris prosecutor’s office specified he was charged with
- three counts of rape of a minor,
- one count of rape of an adult,
- one count of sexual assault of a minor,
- one count of sexual assault of an adult.
Miller was also placed under the status of assisted witness “for one count of rape of a minor over the age of 15, likely to have been committed in 2000 against a seventh woman.” Following these allegations—made in France in the wake of the #MeToo movement—Miller did not respond to a recent AFP request for comment, but he has previously denied all charges. Likewise, to date, his lawyer has remained silent.
A first legal action was filed early last year, upon which the prosecutor’s office has now followed up, stating
Following the initial complaint, around 20 women gave testimony to the judiciary, describing scenes of a sexual nature after a hypnosis session, an alcohol-fuelled evening, or under the pretence of professional meetings.
Those involved were aged 14 to 25 at the time of the alleged assaults or rapes, it said, adding that several cases had to be dropped because of the statute of limitations.
Early last year, Elle magazine and the Mediapart website reported on accusations that Miller committed sexual offences between the 1990s and 2020. They said he invited students and young women in television audiences to spend time with him and tried to assault them, often after hypnosis or giving them alcohol.
Miller has said he “never forced anyone” and has denied practicing hypnosis in his office or at home.
The Paris prosecutor’s office has confirmed that the now disgraced TV psychoanalyst has been placed under judicial supervision
with the obligation to pay a deposit of €65,000, the obligation to undergo treatment, the prohibition of exercising the activity of psychoanalyst, any activity involving regular contact with minors, as well as the activity of television commentator in public, the prohibition of entering into contact with the victims and the persons cited in the procedure, as well as the prohibition of leaving the territory.
If convicted, the case against Miller will come as an embarrassment to the French Left. Briefly in the Federation of Marxist-Leninist Circles, then with Maoists and the Communist Party’s youth organizations, he went on to support left-wing governments between 1997 and 2002.
By 2012 and 2017, he publicly campaigned for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the Front de gauche’s [Left Front] presidential candidate, including with a hagiographic documentary film, and has since backed La France Insoumise [France Unbowed] in the 2019 European and 2022 presidential elections, and subsequently supported the Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale party coalition at the next parliamentary election.
