French actor Gérard Depardieu has been charged with rape and sexual assault over a reopened case from 2018.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said that Depardieu was not detained when he was handed the preliminary charges on 16 December.
The prosecutor’s office addressed the charges after the case was leaked to French media.
Depardieu’s lawyer, Herve Temime, had told AFP that the actor, who is currently free but under judicial supervision, “completely rejects the accusations”.
Depardieu, 72, was accused of raping a 22-year-old actor in his Paris home in 2018, an allegation that he has denied. After nine months of investigation, French prosecutors dropped the case due to a lack of evidence.
However, the allegation will be re-investigated by Paris prosecutors, after the actor, now 24, in August re-launched proceedings by claiming to be an “injured party”. Under French law, “injured parties” typically have their cases investigated by a magistrate.
Depardieu’s lawyer Herve Temime has previously said that the actor “absolutely denies any rape, any sexual assault, any crime.”
A lawyer for the woman in question told AFP: “She renews her confidence in the courts, at whose disposal she stands.”
The actor’s lawyer, Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon, told the publication that she hoped her client’s “private sphere will be respected” as the case plays out.
Temime declined to comment when approached by The Independent.
Depardieu is best known for his roles in Cyrano de Bergerac and The Last Metro.
He has also appeared in American films including Green Card, The Man in the Iron Mask and 102.
