French investigators have opened five new probes into rape allegations against former prime-time news presenter Patrick Poivre d'Arvor.
Poivre d'Arvor (76) has denied repeated accusations of rape or sexual assault, but in December he was charged with the rape of writer Florence Porcel in 2009.
That probe was widened in February to look into claims of the rape of two more women and a sexual assault of another committed between 2007 and 2018, which could lead to fresh charges.
The new investigations are into accusations of rape during an earlier period, the prosecutor's office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre announced on Wednesday.
The five accusers had filed previous complaints that were reportedly rejected for being past the statute of limitations.
Amongst the five accusers, journalist Helene Devynck has alleged the television presenter raped her when she was his assistant in 1993.
Another journalist, Stephanie Khayat, has accused him of two rapes in 1994 and 1997.
Marie-Laure Eude-Delattre claims Poivre d'Arvor raped her as a 23-year-old intern at the Cannes Film Festival in 1985, while Margot Cauquil-Gleizes, now a teacher, said he raped her the same year when she was 17.
They were identified by their lawyer Corinne Herrmann, although it was not immediately clear who the fifth plaintiff was.
Statute of limitations does not apply
After a preliminary inquiry opened in 2021, prosecutors dropped 19 out of 22 testimonies or legal complaints accusing the veteran presenter of rape, sexual assault or sexual harassment for being past the statute of limitations.
But the five plaintiffs have used another legal channel to obtain investigations.
Herrmann said "these cases are not past the statute of limitations because there are several of them. When you have a cascade of cases, the latest annuls the statute of limitations for the one before it."
France is reeling from a series of accusations of abuse in the arts and journalism.
Screen icon Gerard Depardieu is to stand trial in October over accusations of sexually assaulting two women.
He was also charged in 2020 with rape two years earlier. He denies all charges.
(With newswires)
