A French court on Thursday declared the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot guilty of aggravated rapes and all other charges against him.

The verdict for 72-year-old Dominique Pelicot was read by the lead judge of the court in Avignon, Roger Arata. He hasn't yet delivered the sentence, which can be up to 20 years imprisonment.

A panel of five judges in France is delivering verdicts on Thursday for more than four dozen mencharged with aggravated rapeand sexual assault on Gisèle Pelicot in a historic case that has profoundly shaken the country over the past several months.

Among the men on trial is Dominique Pelicot, the now ex-husband of the 72-year-old grandmother who admitted that for years he knocked his wife of 50 years out with drugs so he and strangers he recruited online could abuse her while he filmed the assaults.

The appalling ordeal inflicted over nearly a decade on Gisèle Pelicot in what she thought was a loving marriage and her courage duringthe bruising and stunning trialhave transformed the retired power company worker intoa feminist hero of the nation.

Stretching over more than three months, the trial galvanized campaigners against sexual violence andspurred calls for tougher measuresto stamp out rape culture.

Dominique Pelicot, also 72, and 49 other men were tried in the southern French city of Avignon for aggravated rape and attempted rape and face up to 20 years imprisonment if convicted.

Prosecutors asked that he get the maximum penalty and for sentences of 10 to 18 years for the others. They also requested a four-year prison term for another defendant who was tried for aggravated sexual assault.

The 51 men were all accused of having taken part inDominique Pelicot's sordid rape and abuse fantasiesthat were acted out in the couple's retirement home in the small Provence town of Mazan and elsewhere.