PARIS, France (AFP)-A French investigating judge has ordered cinema icon Gerard Depardieu to stand trial on charges of raping and sexually assaulting actor Charlotte Arnould in 2018, legal sources said Tuesday, the latest chapter in the star’s downfall over his treatment of women.

The decision, dated August 28, came after a Paris court handed Depardieu an 18-month suspended sentence in a separate case in May after convicting him of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021.

That conviction and a slew of other allegations in recent years have irrevocably tarnished the reputation of a man seen as the colossus of French cinema for the past half-century.

Depardieu has denied the charges of raping and sexually assaulting Arnould, saying his relationship with her was consensual.

“Seven years later, seven years of horror and hell. I think I’m having trouble realising how huge this is. I’m relieved,” said Arnould, who filed the complaint in 2018.

Her lawyer Carine Durrieu-Diebolt confirmed that Depardieu, 76, had been ordered to stand trial for the alleged assault and rape by digital penetration of Arnould in August 2018 on two occasions at his Paris home.

“My client and I are relieved and confident. This is a form of judicial truth for Charlotte while she awaits the criminal trial,” she added.

The trial would also be an opportunity to respond to “certain mendacious allegations in certain media” against her client, she said.

The date of the trial has yet to be set.