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Head of France’s cinema agency sentenced to three years for sexual assault of godson

Dominique Boutonnat to step down from French industry champion CNC, and will serve sentence at home

Dominique Boutonnat, the head of France’s powerful National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC), was on Friday given a three-year prison sentence, including two years suspended, after being convicted of sexually assaulting his godson in 2020. In a statement released immediately after the ruling, Boutonnat announced he would step down as head of the CNC, a government agency whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry. The trial came as French cinema reels from a renewed MeToo reckoning that has seen several big names, including acting legend Gérard Depardieu, accused of sexual abuse.

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