Gérard Dépardieu has been charged with rape and sexual assault.
Gérard Depardieu
The 72-year-old French actor has been accused of attacking the young actress – who is unable to be named for legal reasons – in August 2018 on a number of occasions.
A judicial source has confirmed to Agence France-Presse that Dépardieu had criminal charges filed against him in December, after the initial accusations were dropped due to lack of evidence.
It has been claimed that the two rapes took place in Dépardieu's home in 2018 as well as a number of sexual assaults around a similar time. It is believed the rapes took place on August 7 and August 13.
Whilst the young woman is thought to be an actress, it is believed she attended the property as a family friend of the 'Green Card' actor. However, Dépardieu claimed it was a "consensual relationship" and he had been offering her career advice as a good friend of her father's.
Her lawyer Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon insisted that the woman's "private sphere will be respected" throughout the case and has "requested privacy" for the actress involved.
Hervé Temime, Dépardieu's lawyer, said he was "sorry that this information has been made public" and confirmed that the actor was currently on bail as he awaits the trial.
The woman made a complaint initially in Aix-en-Provence, south of France but after nine months of investigation, the case was closed "with no evidence of a crime". As part of this, Dépardieu met with the victim, in a meeting set up by police, before the case was dismissed on June 4, 2019.
Dépardieu - who was married to Élisabeth Dépardieu until 1996 - has starred in a number of films over the year including 'Cyrano de Bergerac', 'The Man in the Iron Mask' as well as 2002's 'Life of Pi'.
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