PARIS — The two Paris judges overseeing the so-called French Bukkake case have ordered the 17 men involved to stand trial for rape and other crimes, a month after prosecutors requested that action.
According to French wire service AFP, the charges include “gang rape, organized human trafficking and aggravated pimping” in relation to incidents alleged to have occurred during the production of content for the now-shuttered website French Bukkake.
The case is centered on the activities of producer, performer and site founder Pascal OP, and his partner, Julien D., who acted as a recruiter of largely amateur would-be performers.
As XBIZ reported, the men were arrested in 2020 and first indicted in 2021. The other men accused include producers and male performers.
According to French press reports, the trial will be the first time that adult performers in France have been indicted for rape as part of an investigation involving the industry.
Prosecutors, AFP reported last month, “believe the recruiter lured young, economically vulnerable women into participating in the filming of the videos in the full knowledge that they would be subjected to ‘aggravated rape.’”
Investigators also believe “the women were told the videos would only be accessible on private Canadian websites. In fact, the films were viewable in France and the producers demanded large sums of cash from the women to remove them — only for the images to continue to circulate online. Prosecutors said alcohol and drugs were commonplace during the shoots.”
The women reportedly told prosecutors that “they had not been warned before going on set of the type of sexual acts expected of them. Sexual acts were performed on them without warning, without them being able to comprehend them, and therefore without being able to give their consent.”