French actor Adele Haenel files sexual harassment complaint against director Christophe Ruggia
Actor's lawyers say she feels it's her 'responsibility' to take matters to court
French actor Adele Haenel has filed a sexual harassment complaint against director Christophe Ruggia.
The actor alleges that Ruggia harassed her when she was aged 12 to 15. Her lawyers were quoted by Agence France Presse on Tuesday as saying that Haenel felt it was her “responsibility” to file a formal complaint.
Haenel had previously said that she wouldn’t take such a step because of the “systemic violence” that women encounter when dealing with the judicial system.
The actor came forward against Ruggia earlier this month in an interview with the French news website Mediapart.
She alleges that Ruggia repeatedly touched her inappropriately when she was a minor.
Ruggia has categorically denied the allegations via his lawyer.
Before Haenel filed her complaint, the Paris prosecutor’s office had opened an inquiry into Ruggia for “sexual aggressions” against a minor younger than 15 years old by a “person with authority”, as well as “sexual harassment”.
In a statement to The Independent, Ruggia’s lawyer called the latest development the “normal consequence” of the probe previously launched by the Paris prosecutor’s office.
He described the ongoing procedure as the “chronicle of an announced conviction” but said Ruggia's counsel trust “policemen and magistrates to establish the truth”.
Haenel’s allegations rocked the French film industry and gave the #MeToo movement a new wave in the following weeks.
Additional reporting by agencies