Call on the BBC to release evidence crucial to a criminal sexual abuse investigation.
The Issue
Victorious Angels
As a group of sexual assault and rape survivors, we are asking the BBC to immediately release video and audio footage along with other materials evidencing inappropriate conduct and actions of former Elite Model Management executive, Gerald Marie. The materials are urgently needed to support allegations at the centre of a criminal investigation in France. Sixteen women from the US, UK and Australia have provided depositions to the French authorities. These detail rapes and serious sexual assaults perpetrated by Marie in Paris and one in Milan. The only existing evidence to support some of the claims has been buried in the BBC archives for over two decades. In spite of repeated requests by our lawyers in the UK and France, the BBC has resolutely refused to provide the materials. The corporation knows that time is running out for us and that it is in a unique position to help us pursue justice and hold our abuser accountable.
It is unconscionable that the BBC would not want to assist us. Knowing that these materials are available and are continually denied to us causes us all undue pain and stress as our path to justice is impeded.
The materials constitute hundreds of hours of filmed and audio footage obtained over a three-year investigation into industry abuse by our founder member, ex BBC reporter, Lisa Brinkworth. Some of the footage was aired in 1999 for a BBC documentary. Most of it however remains unseen. There are also printed documents, emails and notebooks from that time. We regard the materials as proof not just of Gerald Marie’s conduct but that it was impossible for Lisa to report the crime at the time. That is a key point being argued in legal proceedings, which must be proved if we are to ever obtain justice.
As victims of traumatic and life-changing rapes and sexual assaults, we jointly urge the BBC to hand over all the materials requested over four and a half years. While obstructing our own path towards justice, the corporation gave full access of all the materials to a journalist ‘in the public interest.’
We say there can be no greater public interest than assisting an investigation into rape and sexual assault allegations. The BBC must act now.
The case in France:
In 2020, we successfully asked the French authorities to open a criminal investigation into rape and sexual assault allegations brought by a number of women against Gerald Marie. The number of alleged victims who have come forward currently stands at sixteen. More than double that have contacted our lawyer, Anne-Claire Le Jeune.
Lisa Brinkworth was one of more than a dozen women who filed a deposition with the French authorities. She was assaulted by Marie during the course of her work for the BBC.
Last November, Lisa appealed the court’s decision not to hear the case due to the French statute of limitations prohibiting the prosecution of rapes and sexual assaults after twenty years. Lisa has always maintained that she was prevented by speaking out about the assault by a legal settlement agreed between the BBC and Elite Models. That settlement was unsafe since it enabled Marie to continue working with teenage girls for another two decades. Further, the BBC has already breached the settlement by sharing all the materials with a journalist. Footage embargoed by the settlement was aired on a three-part TV series without objection from the BBC. Why then are those same materials being denied to victims?
The BBC holds film of Lisa’s personal testimony recorded in the immediate aftermath of her assault. That tape along with audio recorded in the minutes after the assault have never been handed over to Lisa nor to the authorities in spite of repeated requests made by lawyers.
We are being refused health and safety reports showing why Lisa was unable to speak out at the time of the assault. Lisa received serious threats on her life and was forced to live in safe houses, making it unsafe for her to speak out against her attacker. Documents that can prove this are crucial to her appeal, which if successful will give us all the chance to be heard by a judge.
We have a limited period of time before the French court makes a final decision. The BBC’s co-operation could ensure the right decision is made.
We want the court to have access to the listed materials that the BBC holds. We want to progress the case in France. We want justice.
We ask you to join us in calling for the co-operation of the BBC Chairman and governors at this critical juncture in judicial proceedings. Your signatures on this petition will send a clear message to the BBC that we have your support and that you share our desire for justice.
Thank you, Victorious Angels…
2,806
The Issue
Victorious Angels
As a group of sexual assault and rape survivors, we are asking the BBC to immediately release video and audio footage along with other materials evidencing inappropriate conduct and actions of former Elite Model Management executive, Gerald Marie. The materials are urgently needed to support allegations at the centre of a criminal investigation in France. Sixteen women from the US, UK and Australia have provided depositions to the French authorities. These detail rapes and serious sexual assaults perpetrated by Marie in Paris and one in Milan. The only existing evidence to support some of the claims has been buried in the BBC archives for over two decades. In spite of repeated requests by our lawyers in the UK and France, the BBC has resolutely refused to provide the materials. The corporation knows that time is running out for us and that it is in a unique position to help us pursue justice and hold our abuser accountable.
It is unconscionable that the BBC would not want to assist us. Knowing that these materials are available and are continually denied to us causes us all undue pain and stress as our path to justice is impeded.
The materials constitute hundreds of hours of filmed and audio footage obtained over a three-year investigation into industry abuse by our founder member, ex BBC reporter, Lisa Brinkworth. Some of the footage was aired in 1999 for a BBC documentary. Most of it however remains unseen. There are also printed documents, emails and notebooks from that time. We regard the materials as proof not just of Gerald Marie’s conduct but that it was impossible for Lisa to report the crime at the time. That is a key point being argued in legal proceedings, which must be proved if we are to ever obtain justice.
As victims of traumatic and life-changing rapes and sexual assaults, we jointly urge the BBC to hand over all the materials requested over four and a half years. While obstructing our own path towards justice, the corporation gave full access of all the materials to a journalist ‘in the public interest.’
We say there can be no greater public interest than assisting an investigation into rape and sexual assault allegations. The BBC must act now.
The case in France:
In 2020, we successfully asked the French authorities to open a criminal investigation into rape and sexual assault allegations brought by a number of women against Gerald Marie. The number of alleged victims who have come forward currently stands at sixteen. More than double that have contacted our lawyer, Anne-Claire Le Jeune.
Lisa Brinkworth was one of more than a dozen women who filed a deposition with the French authorities. She was assaulted by Marie during the course of her work for the BBC.
Last November, Lisa appealed the court’s decision not to hear the case due to the French statute of limitations prohibiting the prosecution of rapes and sexual assaults after twenty years. Lisa has always maintained that she was prevented by speaking out about the assault by a legal settlement agreed between the BBC and Elite Models. That settlement was unsafe since it enabled Marie to continue working with teenage girls for another two decades. Further, the BBC has already breached the settlement by sharing all the materials with a journalist. Footage embargoed by the settlement was aired on a three-part TV series without objection from the BBC. Why then are those same materials being denied to victims?
The BBC holds film of Lisa’s personal testimony recorded in the immediate aftermath of her assault. That tape along with audio recorded in the minutes after the assault have never been handed over to Lisa nor to the authorities in spite of repeated requests made by lawyers.
We are being refused health and safety reports showing why Lisa was unable to speak out at the time of the assault. Lisa received serious threats on her life and was forced to live in safe houses, making it unsafe for her to speak out against her attacker. Documents that can prove this are crucial to her appeal, which if successful will give us all the chance to be heard by a judge.
We have a limited period of time before the French court makes a final decision. The BBC’s co-operation could ensure the right decision is made.
We want the court to have access to the listed materials that the BBC holds. We want to progress the case in France. We want justice.
We ask you to join us in calling for the co-operation of the BBC Chairman and governors at this critical juncture in judicial proceedings. Your signatures on this petition will send a clear message to the BBC that we have your support and that you share our desire for justice.
Thank you, Victorious Angels…
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Petition created on March 7, 2023