A former French senator was sentenced to a year and a half in prison on Tuesday for drugging a fellow lawmaker to abuse her, an experience she described as terrifying and left her with long-term trauma.

Joël Guerriau, 68, has admitted serving Sandrine Josso a drink laced with MDMA, known as ecstasy, but says it was an accident.

A court in Paris found him guilty of drugging Josso to sexually assault or rape her and of drug possession. He received an additional suspended sentence of 2 and a half years, an obligation to undergo treatment and a ban on holding elected office.

Shortly after Tuesday’s verdict, Josso said the sentence was a “great relief,” BBC News reported.

Guerriau’s lawyer said his client will appeal the verdict.

The trial drew national attention to drug-fuelled attacks in a country already marked by high-profile drug and rape cases that turned Gisèle Pelicot into a world icon fight against sexual violence.

Josso, a 50-year-old member of the National Assembly, said the then-senator invited her to his Paris apartment to celebrate his re-election in November 2023. The two had known each other for years and were on friendly terms.

“I really felt myself slipping away,” Josso testified Monday, saying she felt her heart racing shortly after taking a few sips of champagne. She said she felt uneasy being alone with Guerriau, who seemed unusually agitated and kept turning the lights on and off.

Josso said Guerriau later took her glass to the kitchen to refill it. She then noticed that she was holding a “small bag”, which made her realize that she had probably been drugged.

“My legs were shaking, I was very thirsty,” she recalled in a breaking voice.

Josso said she tried to hide her symptoms, afraid to alert Guerriau. In the end, she managed to leave and take a taxi.

“I think of my children, I call my colleague, I tell him I’m going to die,” she told the court in tears.

Blood tests later showed that she had ingested an amount of MDMA far in excess of the levels usually associated with recreational use.

“I want the truth to come out. That’s important to me,” she said.

Josso described the long-term trauma, including sleep disturbances, eating difficulties, panic attacks on trains and in stairwells, and intense stress that caused her to grind her teeth so much that several had to be removed.

“I disgust myself”

Guerriau spent hours Monday answering questions from the court that often sounded vague and confused, saying he was suffering from depression at the time and still had no clear recollection of the events.

Guerriau resigned as a senator in October, portraying the move as a political decision unrelated to the legal process.

He admitted to what he called “stupidity” and “ignorance” about drugs. Guerriau said another senator had given him MDMA powder a few months earlier, which he said he had never used.

Guerriau told the court that he intended to take the drugs himself the night before, BBC News reported. He did not do so and accidentally offered Joss a glass containing MDMA the following evening, he claimed.

“I feel sorry for Sandrine,” Guerriau told the Paris court. – I am disgusted with myself, my thoughtlessness and stupidity.

Investigators said Guerriau had searched online about drug use, including ecstasy, in connection with the rape about a month before the incident. Guerriau said the research is part of his work as a senator and the goal is to better understand the problem.

Asked about Internet searches, he said members of the government must show an interest in “all current events,” the BBC reported.