Prosecutors said that France charged the founder of a website for adultery used by people to commit sexual crimes, including a Frenchman who recruited dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife.
After his Tuesday arrest, Isaac Steidl was charged with offenses such as administering an online forum to facilitate an illicit transaction by an organized group.
The French authorities will shut down the anonymous platform by June 2024.
The site is said to have been used for several sex crimes, including pedophilia, rape, and murder.
The report also claimed that Dominique Pelicot was able to recruit dozens of strangers from 2011 to 2020 to rape the heavily sedated wife of his. Pelicot received a maximum of 20 years behind bars, while the sentences for his co-accused ranged from 3 to 15 years.
Pelicot talked to potential attackers in the chatroom of the website called “A Son Insu” without their knowledge. In December, he was sentenced to 20 years behind bars after a trial that made his ex-wife Gisele Pelicot a feminist icon.
Steidl was an Italian citizen who was placed under judicial oversight with the requirement to pay a bail of 100,000 Euros and prohibited from leaving the country.
The 44-year-old has been charged with complicity in the drug trade, the possession and distribution of images of child pornography, and corruption of minors through the Internet. He is also accused of aggravated money laundering and administration of an online platform that facilitates an illegal transaction.
“Den of Predators”
Some of these offenses can result in up to ten years imprisonment.
After numerous warnings by associations about the dangers of the site, it was called a “den for predators.” The website was registered in Channel Island Guernsey.
Users of the online chat room were anonymous and did not need to register.
Steidl was already questioned by Bulgarian authorities in June.
In France, three of his relatives were interviewed. They were suspected of playing a part in the administration of this platform, or of benefiting from these offenses.
A police source revealed to AFP that two moderators of the site were arrested at the end of July 2024 in France.
Laure Beccuau, Paris’ public prosecutor, said that more than 23,000 crimes have been reported to be committed by Coco.
The prosecution has said that they have seized more than five million euros from bank accounts in Hungary and Lithuania as well as Germany and the Netherlands.
50 co-defendants – the men who responded online to Dominique Pelicot’s invitation — were also found guilty.
The details of the crimes shocked France and around the world. They brought male violence to the forefront. Gisele Pelicot chose to waive anonymity in favor of a public trial, which heightened the impact of this trial.
She wanted the proceedings made public so that “all women who have been raped can say to themselves, ‘Madame Pelicot has done it, so we too can do it.”
“I don’t want them feeling ashamed anymore.” She said that it was not our responsibility to feel ashamed, but rather theirs [sexual assaulters]. “I’m not only expressing my determination and will to change society, but I am also expressing the strength of my convictions.”
A study conducted by the Institute of Public Policies found that only 14% of French rape allegations result in formal investigations.