Dominique Pelicot, the Frenchman accused of drugging his wife and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her over a decade, on Tuesday admitted to the various criminal charges he faces and begged his family's forgiveness,

An associate of Frenchman Dominique Pelicot, who for a nearly a decade drugged his wife and invited dozens of men to rape her, admitted to copycat abuse of his own partner on Wednesday, blaming his mentor and a troubled childhood.

"I am a rapist," said a Frenchman accused of drugging his wife so that he and dozens of strangers could sexually assault her, his first testimony in a trial that has horrified France.Gisele Pelicot requested that the trial be open to the public to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.