PARIS (AP) — Former American supermodel Carré Otis filed a complaint Friday at a Paris court alleging she was raped and trafficked by Gérald Marie, the former European head of Elite Model agency, in a move her lawyer said 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 the 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 modeling career,” according to the complaint. “While living in the apartment, she alleges that she was raped on multiple occasions by the accused, who subsequently arranged for her to be provided to other wealthy men across Europe.”
Otis was never paid for her modeling work, the complaint said.
“The goal is to give other victims the opportunity to find the courage to join our complaint,” Darmon said. “We are opening the door for all those affected by this internationally significant case to come forward and have their voices heard.”
Otis, 58, became a supermodel in the late 1980s and early 1990s, appearing on the covers of Elle, Vogue and Vanity Fair and featuring in the Pirelli calendar.
Marie, a 76 year-old French national, supervised operations at Elite from 1985 to 2010, during a period when the agency dominated the modeling industry. He helped launch the careers of some of the world’s best-known supermodels.
French broadcaster France Info reported Friday that Otis said she wanted to “denounce an entire system of sexual abuse of models that lasted for years in the fashion industry,” drawing parallels to the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein case.
A complaint previously filed in 2021 by Otis and several other former models alleging rape and sexual assault by Marie in the 1980s was dismissed because the claims were beyond the statute of limitations.
Under French law, victims who were minors at the time of alleged sexual abuse can file a criminal complaint until 30 years after reaching adulthood, allowing them to do so until age 48.