A 66-year-old former commercial worker goes on trial facing accusations of drugging and sexually assaulting vulnerable young women met at cosplay conventions.
The suspect maintained a public persona disguised as fictional villains while secretly cataloging hundreds of web searches for sedatives and anaesthetics.
The Trial Details
- Yann de Carné de Trecesson de Coetlogon faces up to 20 years in criminal prison if convicted by the Gard criminal court.
- Investigators discovered digital evidence indicating five rapes and one sexual assault under chemical submission.
- Online activity logs revealed 790 specific web queries for phrases like “drugged sleeping” over a three-year span.
Cosplay and Social Media Masked Patterns of Exploitation
On his social media profiles, Yann de Carné de Trecesson de Coetlogon appeared dressed in elaborate costumes, portraying characters like a Johnny Depp-style pirate, the Joker, or Marvel villain Kingpin. He frequented manga and cosplay events where he scouted young attendees.
That public-facing hobby masked a pattern of exploitation directed at vulnerable targets. Maître Ludivine Gloriès, a civil party lawyer representing two of the victims, said that the accused targeted young women with complicated histories and psychological vulnerabilities.
The July 2023 Intervention
The investigation began on July 9, 2023, when gendarmes responded to a distress call from a 21-year-old woman. Officers arrived at an isolated bungalow in Vénéjean, near Bagnols-sur-Cèze, where they found the victim half-dressed and nearly unconscious on a couch.
The victim had traveled from Toulouse after the suspect offered to take her to Paris to view an exhibition dedicated to Japan and manga. After sharing a meal, she lost most of her subsequent memories while remaining conscious of non-consensual sexual acts she could not physically resist.
Faced with digital photographs and video files retrieved from his devices showing the unconscious victim being assaulted, the suspect admitted to investigators that he had administered Zolpidem dissolved in food or drinks. Subsequent forensic examination of his devices revealed additional victims and extensive search histories for illicit substances, including ketamine and GHB.
Legal Proceedings in Nîmes
The proceedings before the Gard criminal court carry echoes of the national reckoning sparked by the Mazan trial involving Dominique Pelicot.
| Case Metric | Details |
|---|---|
| Defendant Age | 66 years old |
| Identified Victims | 5 rapes and 1 sexual assault |
| Substances Used | Zolpidem (Zilpide), alongside searches for Ketamine and GHB |
| Maximum Exposure | 20 years of criminal imprisonment |
“Il assume, il regrette et il s’excuse, il suit des soins, et son discours n’a pas varié depuis ses premières auditions,” Viremouneix told Midi Libre.
