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French Mayor Jailed Over Secret Sex‑Tape 'Honey Trap' Used to Blackmail Rival

03:39 AM, 12/02/2025
French Mayor Jailed Over Secret Sex‑Tape 'Honey Trap' Used to Blackmail Rival

Gaël Perdriau, mayor of Saint‑Étienne, was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of orchestrating a covert sex‑tape operation used to blackmail his former deputy, Gilles Artigues. Prosecutors say about €50,000 of municipal funds were diverted to set up the 2015 honey‑trap filmed in a Paris hotel. Three aides were also jailed, and Perdriau received a five‑year ban from public office. The case was sealed when Artigues produced a 2017 audio recording that documented explicit threats to distribute the tape.

Gaël Perdriau, the mayor of Saint-Étienne in France's Loire region, was sentenced to four years in prison after a court found he orchestrated a covert sex‑tape operation to blackmail his former deputy, Gilles Artigues. Perdriau was convicted of blackmail, criminal conspiracy and diverting public funds; prosecutors said roughly €50,000 of municipal money was used to carry out the scheme.

The case centred on a 2015 recording made in a Paris hotel showing Artigues, a married father and outspoken Catholic who opposed same‑sex marriage, in intimate acts with a male escort. Prosecutors say the tape and subsequent threats were intended to keep Artigues politically compliant and prevent him from seeking higher office.

Judge Brigitte Vernay said Perdriau had “gravely violated the trust placed in him” by organising a “premeditated plot involving manipulation, humiliation and the diversion of public funds.” In addition to the four‑year prison term, Perdriau received a suspended sentence and was banned from holding public office for five years.

Three associates, including Perdriau’s former chief of staff, were also convicted and received jail sentences for their roles in staging the clandestine filming and for later showing Artigues an edited preview titled In Bed with Gilles Artigues. The operation collapsed after Artigues produced a secret 2017 audio recording in which officials threatened to distribute the material to parents of children at the same schools as his.

“I’ve got a video showing your bum in the air with a bloke. Doesn’t that worry you?” one recording captures the chief secretary saying. Another threat warned that copies could be sent to parents, putting Artigues’s children at risk of public exposure.

Perdriau denied the charges throughout the trial, calling the recordings “out‑of‑context bluster.” He said after sentencing that he would appeal. Artigues told the court the campaign left him “paralysed” in municipal meetings and said he had contemplated suicide; he welcomed the verdict, saying it would allow him to try to rebuild his life.

The conviction marks a dramatic fall for a centre‑right politician who was once considered a potential contender for national office. Prosecutors emphasised that Perdriau had been the decision‑maker at every stage — from green‑lighting the honey trap to approving later threats.

This ruling underscores wider concerns about the misuse of public funds and power for personal and political ends, and it raises fresh questions about accountability in local government.

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