France Indicts Founder of Notorious Site Used in Pelicot Rape Case

The creator of the website Dominique Pélicot used to invite dozens of men to rape his wife after drugging him was on trial in France on Thursday on multiple charges, including some related to the case.

If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 7.5 million euros, or about $7.7 million.

The site’s creator, 44-year-old Isaac Steidl, was released from prison on Thursday. The investigating judge’s office said he was under “judicial supervision”, ordered to pay bail of 100,000 euros and banned from leaving France.

His website, coco.fr, which he created in 2003, became famous during the trial of Mr. Pelicot and 50 others in France. was found guilty last monthmainly because he assaulted Mr. Pellicote’s ex-wife Gisele while on strong sedatives.

One of the charges in the Pelicot case against Mr. Steidl is the operation of an online platform by an organized gang to facilitate an illegal operation. Other charges he faces include complicity in drug trafficking, complicity in possession and distribution of child pornography, aggravated conspiracy and aggravated money laundering.

Mr. Steidl “strongly denies the charges against him and undertakes to cooperate fully to demonstrate that he is not responsible for the alleged crimes,” his lawyer, Julien Zanatta, told Agence France-Presse.

During the trial, Mr Pelicot said he met all the men in a private chat room on a website called “Unbeknownst to Him”. Most of the denied defendants never saw that particular chat room.

However, they agreed to meet him on site and then transferred the conversation to text messages or Skype to arrange a visit to the Pellicotes’ home in southern France, where they joined him as he raped his ex-wife. was in a deep drugged state.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement that the website was involved in more than 23,000 cases between 2021 and 2024 in France alone, involving 480 alleged victims. The cases include allegations of child sexual abuse, pimping, prostitution, rape, drug trafficking, fraud and murder, police and prosecutors said in a statement.

The site was shut down in June after an 18-month investigation that spanned Europe. Police froze bank accounts in Hungary, Lithuania, Germany and the Netherlands and seized 5 million euros, a Paris prosecutor said at the time.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Mr. Steidl’s house in Bulgaria was searched during the operation at the request of the French judges.

Mr. Steidl grew up in the Var region of southern France. In April 2023, the French government agreed to his request to renounce his French citizenship. After his site was shut down in June last year, he was interviewed by an investigating judge in Bulgaria with French law enforcement officials.

French non-profit organizations fighting child abuse, homophobia and illegal online content have raised the alarm about the site for years. A petition calling for its closure It was signed by more than 20 thousand people.

“The Coco site was a den of pedophiles,” said Sophie Antoine, who deals with legal issues and advocacy for the French organization Anti-Child Prostitution Act.

Ms. Antoine said her organization often uses it to show babysitters how open the “dark web” really is. Registration was free and only required name, age and zip code. Once you signed in, other users could contact you to chat and make suggestions, but once you signed out, those conversations were immediately deleted, he said.