French mayor arrested for ‘blackmailing’ married rival with ‘erotic massage’ video

A French mayor has been arrested and charged with blackmailing a political rival with a video purporting to show him receiving an ‘erotic massage’.

Gaël Perdriau, 50, was officially charged on Thursday for blackmail and embezzlement of public funds.

The mayor of Saint-Étienne (Loire) is accused of paying €50,000 (£43,000) for footage of politician Gilles Artigues, 57, who is a married father.

French investigative outlet Mediapart previously said the clip from January 2015 is a ‘raw video of 30 minutes 33 seconds in which the escort performs an erotic massage on Gilles Artigues.

‘The latter appears naked on the bed, the escort shirtless. The film does not show any sexual relations, but its content is sufficiently compromising.’

Mr Artigues, a conservative Catholic who worked as Perdriau’s deputy from 2014 to 2022, said the alleged blackmail has ‘ruined his life’ for eight years.

Perdriau has already spent 40 hours in custody for his alleged role in the scandal, when he and four others were arrested last year.

The four others, all centre-right Republicans, have since moved to oust Mr Perdiau, who has served as mayor since 2014 and was re-elected in 2020.

‘While it is up to justice to decide on guilt and Mr Perdriau’s involvement, the Republicans can only condemn the abominable methods used by the mayor of Saint-Etienne,’ the group said.

Perdriau has always insisted he is innocent, refusing to step down multiple times.

He said in December: ‘I am neither the sponsor, nor the organizer, nor a user of this video. I have never had or seen this document.’

But he was expelled from his party, Les Républicains, which said it ‘can only condemn these low methods used by the mayor of Saint-Étienne against a political rival’.

Perdriau responded by saying he was ‘deeply hurt’.

The others involved in the case are the former chief of staff Pierre Gauttieri, his deputy Claire Vocanson, the former deputy mayor Semy Kéfi-Jérôme and his ex-boyfriend Gilles Rossary-Lenglet.

Rossary-Lenglet’s lawyer said his client was a ‘whistleblower’ who was exposing ‘a system in which he participated so that the truth comes out’.

The case continues.

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