French footballer Benjamin Mendy has been acquitted of two counts of rape and attempted rape, after a trial that lasted several years. Mendy, who is 28 years old and has also won a World Cup with his national team in 2018, is currently without a team.
In August 2021, while playing for Manchester City, England, he was arrested on four counts of rape and one count of sexual harassment which he allegedly committed at his home in Prestbury, near Manchester, between October 2020 and August 2021 In the months that followed, more charges were added, leading to a total of eight rape counts, one count of attempted rape and one count of molestation. He had already been acquitted of eight charges, seven of rape and one of harassment, in two hearings in September 2022 and January 2023. For the last two pending charges, however, the jury had failed to reach a verdict, and had therefore been A new hearing has been set for July with a new jury. Mendy, who in the meantime had been free on bail since January 2022, has always pleaded innocent and has always maintained that all sexual relations were consensual.