UNHAPPY ENDING

Mayor Accused of Secretly Filming Deputy With Escort in Blackmail Plot

An “erotic massage” tape was reportedly used to stop the deputy from challenging the mayor.

A city mayor in France has been accused of blackmailing his deputy after setting him up in a tryst with a male escort. Gaël Perdriau, the mayor of Saint-Etienne, is being investigated by police after it was claimed he was involved in a plot to film the “erotic massage” given to his deputy, Gilles Artigues, in a Paris hotel room in 2014. Conservative Catholic Atrigues says the tape was used to blackmail him for eight years to stop him from challenging Perdiau until the recording was publicized by a French news site last week. After the story broke, Artigues filed a criminal lawsuit against both Perdriau and the director of his mayoral office, alleging “aggravated blackmail, the organization of an ambush and embezzlement.” The suit in turn sparked a police investigation. Both accused men deny the claims.