France on Thursday charged the founder of an adult website used to commit sexual offenses, including ia Frenchman who recruited dozens of foreigners to raped his wife under strong sedativesprosecutors said.

Isaac Steidl, the founder and manager of the website Coco.fr, has been charged with criminal offences, including administering an online platform to facilitate illegal transactions by an organized gang, following his arrest on Tuesday.

French authorities shut down the anonymous platform in June 2024.

They say that the site was used to commit numerous sexual crimes such as pedophilia and rape, as well as murder.

They also said it was enabled Dominique Pelicot to recruit dozens of foreigners to rape his heavily sedated wife from 2011 to 2020. Pelicot received a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while his co-defendants received sentences ranging from three to 15 years.

Pelicot spoke to potential attackers in a website chatroom called “A son insu” (without their knowledge). In December, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison after a trial that turned on his now ex-wife Gisele Pelicot into a feminist icon.

Steidl, an Italian citizen, was placed under judicial supervision with a bond of 100,000 euros and a ban on leaving the country, prosecutors said.

The 44-year-old is charged with complicity in drug trafficking, possession and distribution of images of child pornography, corruption of minors via the Internet, as well as serious money laundering and management of an Internet platform to facilitate illegal transactions. by an organized gang.

“Predator’s Lair”

Some of the criminal offenses are punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The shutdown of the site followed numerous warnings from associations about the danger posed by the site, called a “predator’s den”. It is registered on the Channel Island of Guernsey.

The online chat site required no registration and allowed its users to remain anonymous.

Steidl was already questioned in Bulgaria in June.

Three of his relatives, who are suspected of having played a role in the administration of the platform or benefited from the violations, were interviewed in France.

In late July 2024, two moderators of the site were arrested in France, a police source told AFP.

“A total of more than 23,000 offenses have been reported to have been committed through Coco,” Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau said.

Prosecutors said more than 5 million euros linked to bank accounts in Hungary, Lithuania, Germany and the Netherlands were seized.

Fifty co-accused — the men who responded to Dominique Pelicot’s call online — were also convicted.

The details of the crime shocked France and the world, drawing new attention to male violence. The impact of the trial was reinforced by Gisele Pelicot’s decision to give up your anonymity and opt for a public trial.

She said she wanted the proceedings to be public in the hope that “all women who are rape victims can say to themselves, ‘Madame Pelicot did it, so we can do it.’

“I don’t want them to be ashamed anymore. It’s not up to us to be ashamed – it’s up to them (sexual assaulters),” she said. Above all, I express my will and determination to change this society.

According to a study he conducted Institute for Public Policiesonly 14% of rape allegations in France lead to official investigations.