A French judge has dismissed a rape claim made against French director Luc Besson by actress Sand Van Roy after reassessing an investigation into the alleged incident, according to AFP.
Van Roy accused the Fifth Element and Lucy director of raping her in May 2018. After a nine-month investigation, the Paris prosecutor’s office dismissed the rape allegations against Besson, citing a lack of evidence. Van Roy’s lawyer, however, filed a civil suit, arguing the preliminary investigation had been rushed and was incomplete.
Now, a second judge who reopened the case and reviewed the investigation has come to the same conclusion.
Besson has denied the allegations.
“I have never raped a woman in my life. I never raised a hand to a woman. I have never threatened a woman,” French newspaper Le Figaro quoted Besson as saying in response to the case.
Van Roy, who had small roles in Besson’s Taxi 5 and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and was in an intimate relationship with the director for two years, filed the rape complaint on May 18, 2018. Following Van Roy’s initial complaint, eight additional women came forward saying they had been assaulted or harassed by the director over the years.
Van Roy could still appeal the new ruling, with the potential for prosecutors to reopen the case if new evidence is brought forward.
Speaking to French news agency AFP, Van Roy’s lawyer, Francis Szpiner, said he would appeal the decision all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. “The Besson affair is not over,” Szpiner said.
