French actor Gerard Depardieu to face trial over alleged rape and sexual assault of fellow actor

French actor Gerard Depardieu has been summoned to face trial in Paris over allegations of rape and sexual assault against actress Charlotte Arnould.

"I feel relieved," Ms Arnould wrote on Instagram after receiving the judge's indictment order. "The order restores a form of judicial truth.

I think I'm having trouble realising how huge this is." Ms Arnould's lawyer, Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, told French outlet Franceinfo she was "extremely satisfied" and said the decision was a "moment of judicial truth in this case". In 2018, prosecutors in Paris opened a preliminary investigation after Ms Arnould accused Depardieu of raping her at his home.

He has denied wrongdoing. "The acts of rape and sexual assault have been acknowledged," Ms Arnould said.

"Now, we await the next steps." Last year, prosecutors submitted a request for the case to proceed to trial. Earlier this year, Depardieu was convicted of sexually assaulting two women on a film set and received an 18-month suspended prison sentence.

The 76-year-old was convicted of groping a 34-year-old assistant and a 54-year-old woman responsible for decorating the set during the filming of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) in 2021. The court ordered his name to be listed in the national sex offender database.

Read more from Sky News:Kim Jong Un arrives in Beijing for major military paradeHundreds of empty flats that developers say sum up UK's housing crisis Depardieu, one of the most prominent figures in French cinema for decades, told the court his career includes more than 250 films. In 1991, he was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as the swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac.

In recent years, Depardieu has been accused of misconduct, either publicly or in formal complaints, by more than 20 women. So far, only the sexual assault case has proceeded to court, with other cases dropped over a lack of evidence or an expired statute of limitations..