Argentina indicts 2 visiting French rugby players in a harrowing case of sexual assault

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentine prosecutors on Friday charged two French rugby players with aggravated sexual assault, the latest development in the grisly case of a woman who said she was repeatedly raped by the athletes after they took her back to their hotel room and prevented her from leaving.

The prosecutor’s office in the western city of Mendoza — where the alleged assault took place last Sunday following the French team’s test match against the Argentine Pumas — ordered the two players, Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou, to remain under detention until trial.

After being arrested in Buenos Aires, 21-year-old Jegou and 20-year-old Auradou were transferred 1,000 kilometers (some 620 miles) to Mendoza on Thursday for their first court appearance. They chose not to testify in Friday’s hearing.

The French Rugby Federation had previously said that the players admitted to having consensual sex with the alleged victim and denied any acts of violence.

The prosecutors said the court would soon decide whether to grant the defendants’ request for house arrest.

The account of the assault — provided by Natacha Romano, the lawyer of the victim — has drawn outrage in France and caused a stir in Argentina, where recent scandals involving professional athletes have prompted questions within the greater sports community about misogyny and sexual violence.

The woman says that after meeting the players at a nightclub, she was taken to their hotel room and subjected to violent, non-consensual sexual acts and prevented from leaving. After escaping the hotel room, Romano said the victim filed a police complaint and underwent physical examinations.

The charges of aggravated sexual assault in Argentina carry the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The mandatory minimum is eight years.

Authorities said that they would move the defendants to another jail later Friday.

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