Story By: Ernest Bio Bogore, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
Top Michelin-star chef Guy Martin is being probed by the Paris police for raping a female supplier during a private meeting.
Martin, 43, earned his first Michelin star in 1984 after being a chef for just six months. He went on to earn three Michelin stars at the Grand Vefour restaurant in Paris.
He has been a celebrity chef on TV since 2011 and his many achievements include cooking for former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
However, Florence Chatelet Sanchez, who supplies high-end food products to restaurants through her company By Dehesa, has accused him of raping her in February 2015.
According to French newspaper 20 Minutes, the incident happened during a business meeting at the Grand Vefour, a double-starred restaurant in Paris (it lost its third star in 2008).
At the end of the meeting which, according to the complainant, took place in a private room on the first floor of the establishment, the cook allegedly violently assaulted her.
Chatelet Sanchez is quoted in French newspaper Liberation as saying: “I had never met him, but I was already working for his group, in particular for the Cristal Room (one of Guy Martin’s restaurants).
“If he had tried to seduce me, even clumsily, I wouldn’t have complained, but this was the act of someone who just wanted his meat and never apologised.”
The newspaper Le Parisien said that Chatelet Sanchez had needed some time to understand the gravity of what had allegedly happened.
Her lawyer Vanessa Zencker said: “From a personal point of view, she could not (file a complaint) right away, she did not consider herself to be a victim.
“After a long period of denial”, and encouraged by the effects of the #MeToo movement, “it took a lot of courage” for Chatelet Sanchez to initiate legal proceedings, according to her lawyer.
Guy Martin formally contests the charges against him, stating that he has “no information about filing a complaint and no comment to make”.
Chatelet Sanchez’s lawyer claimed that Guy Martin terminated commercial relations with his client. According to her, this gives support to the victim’s account.
According to reports, the police are investigating the celebrity chef for “rape” and “sexual assault”.
The investigation continues.
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