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By Juliette Jabkhiro
PARIS (Reuters) -A French court on Monday found French film director Christophe Ruggia guilty of sexually abusing actress Adele Haenel when she was underage, in one of the first #MeToo cases to emerge from French cinema.
Ruggia, who had denied the allegations against him, will avoid jail. The court in Paris sentenced him to four years, with a two-year suspended term, and two years with an electronic ankle bracelet.
Ruggia's lawyer, Fanny Colin, told reporters that her client maintained his innocence and would appeal the decision.
Haenel, 35, a prize-winning actress in movies such as "Portrait of a Lady On Fire", had accused Ruggia of repeatedly touching her inappropriately after they met while working on the movie "The Devils" in 2001, when she was 12 and he was 36.
She first publicly accused him in 2019 of exercising undue control over her, isolating her from her family and crewmembers, while also forcing her and co-star Vincent Rottiers into filming gruelling scenes that they were uncomfortable with.
Several female stars of French cinema were in the courtroom to hear the verdict, including Judith Godrèche, one of the figureheads of France's #MeToo movement, and director Céline Sciamma, Haenel's ex-partner and the director of "Portrait of a Lady On Fire". Godrèche hugged Haenel following the verdict,
Haenel is another of the leading figures in the #MeToo movement in France, where the movement has received a much more tepid reaction than in the United States. Haenel recently quit the film industry, citing complacency over suspected sexual predators still working in the business.
Haenel had accused Ruggia of abusing her from the age of 12 to 15, during and after the filming of "The Devils", which tells the story of two abandoned siblings searching for their home.
She told investigators she often went to Ruggia's house, where he would touch her between her legs and caress her chest. She said his actions affected her schoolwork and provoked suicidal thoughts.
Ruggia is not the first man in French cinema to face charges over his behaviour on set.
Gerard Depardieu, one of France's most famous actors, is due to go on trial in March accused of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021. He denies the accusations.
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro; editing by Gareth Jones and Mark Heinrich)
