Francis Renaud, a French actor, director and screenwriter known for his collaborations with filmmaker Olivier Marchal, has been charged with rape, harassment and violence against his former wife and placed in pre-trial detention, the public prosecutor’s office in Evreux announced on Thursday, October 15.
The 59-year-old, who appeared in films including Les Lyonnais, Bronx and the television drama L’Affaire Villemin, was taken into custody on Monday afternoon following a complaint filed by his ex-wife in late September.
Ex-Wife Alleges Years of Coerced Sexual Relations
In her complaint, the woman said Renaud “regularly forced her to have sexual relations with him when she did not want to,” and that he “regularly forced her to have sexual relations with other men in his presence, in some cases taking part in those relations himself, watching them or filming them,” prosecutor Remi Coutin said in a statement.
She told investigators she was made to have sexual relations with around ten different men in total, some of them on multiple occasions.
The actor has been formally charged with “rape by a spouse, gang rape, harassment by a spouse and violence by a spouse resulting in total incapacity for work of more than eight days.” The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment, the prosecutor said.
Harassment Said to Have Continued After Divorce
Although the couple divorced in 2022, the woman said she continued to be harassed by her former husband, who allegedly obtained from her “sporadically, sexual relations with him and with other men.”
The most recent alleged rapes occurred in the summer of 2026, according to the prosecutor. Several people close to the complainant were able to provide “evidence likely to corroborate the physical and psychological violence” she says she suffered. Some of the alleged acts took place in Vernon, in the Eure department, where Renaud lives.
Actor Denies Imposing Sexual Relations
Questioned five times during his custody, Renaud acknowledged only “an act of violence” against his ex-wife, in the prosecutor’s words. He also “half-admitted” having harassed her since their separation, but denied imposing sexual relations on her, saying she had consented to the encounters involving other men.
Renaud, who appeared in Marchal’s 36 Quai des Orfevres and the TF1 series Zodiaque, has himself featured in recent legal cases involving harassment and violence — but as an alleged victim.
Previous Complaints Brought by the Actor
In 2024, Renaud filed a sexual harassment complaint against director Andre Techine. He also filed a complaint against casting director Gerard Moulevrier alleging sexual assault, and a complaint against persons unknown over death threats.
The Evreux prosecutor at the time urged “the greatest caution,” saying the accusations against Techine did not appear “capable of being classified as sexual harassment” and that the complaint against Moulevrier concerned acts that were “time-barred.” Three months after the investigation was opened, the Paris prosecutor’s office closed the case on statute-of-limitations grounds.
