Damien Abad, France's newly appointed minister for Solidarity and the Disabled, strongly denied he raped two women, following accusations published on Sunday by the Mediapart website in an article based on interviews with the women, reports US News & World Report.
The women quoted by Mediapart said Abad had forced them to have unwanted sexual relationships with him. The actions happened in late 2010 and early 2011, they said.
One of the women filed a complaint to the police against Abad in 2017 which was closed without further action, Abad and Mediapart said.
"I contest with the greatest force these accusations of sexual violence," he said in a statement sent to Reuters. "The sexual relations that I have had throughout my life have always been by mutual consent."
Abad said his disability, a disorder called arthrogryposis that affects all four of his limbs, made it physically impossible for him to commit the acts he was accused of.
Read more of this Reuters report published by US News & World Report.
Read the Mediapart investigation (in French) here.