Former US supermodel Carre Otis has filed a complaint at a Paris court alleging she was raped and trafficked by Gerald Marie, the former European head of Elite Model agency, in a move her lawyer says is meant to encourage other potential victims to come forward.
Marie has denied the allegations and cannot be prosecuted over Otis' case because of France's statute of limitations.
But the complaint could allow other women, whether their cases are time-barred or not, to join the proceedings, Otis' lawyer Mathias Darmon said in a statement to the Associated Press.
The complaint, seen by AP, alleges rape of a minor and human trafficking.
Sent to Paris in 1986 by Elite Model agency, Otis, who was then 17, was housed in Marie's apartment, "mistakenly believing that he wanted to support her modelling career," according to the complaint.
