The founder of the website that Dominique Perico used to drug his wife and then solicit dozens of men to rape her was indicted in France on Thursday on a myriad of charges, including those related to the incident. It was done.
If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 7.5 million euros (about $7.7 million).
The site’s founder, Isaac Steidl, 44, was released from prison on Thursday. The Office of the Presiding Judge said he was placed under “judicial supervision”, must pay bail of 100,000 euros and was prohibited from leaving France.
The website coco.fr, which he created in 2003, gained notoriety in France during the trial of Mr Perico and 50 other men. All were found guilty last month, primarily for raping Mr. Perico’s ex-wife, Gisele. She was heavily sedated.
One of the charges against Mr. Steidl in connection with the Pericot case is managing an online platform that enables organized gangs to conduct illegal transactions. Other charges he faces include conspiracy to traffic in drugs, conspiracy to possess and distribute child pornography, aggravated pimping, and aggravated money laundering.
Steidl “categorically denies the accusations and pledges to cooperate fully to prove that he is not responsible for the charges,” Steidl’s lawyer Julien Zanatta told Agence France-Presse.
During the trial, some of the men said the website had become a breeding ground for predators who paid €5 a month to communicate in private chat rooms with names like “without her knowledge.” Several defendants testified that the site was not maintained. According to French newspaper Le Monde, no record of the message was left behind.
During the trial, many people said they connected with Mr. Perico on the site, then moved on to private chats via text or Skype, arranged visits to the Perico family’s home in the south of France, and took part in Perico’s ex-rape. . My wife was extremely addicted to drugs.
Paris prosecutor Laure Becuau said in a statement that the website was implicated in more than 23,000 cases in France alone between 2021 and 2024, involving 480 victims. Police and prosecutors said in a statement that the case includes charges of child sexual abuse, pimping, prostitution, rape, drug trafficking, fraud and murder.
The site was shut down in June after an 18-month investigation across Europe. Paris prosecutors said at the time that police had frozen bank accounts in Hungary, Lithuania, Germany and the Netherlands and seized 5 million euros.
Steidl’s home in Bulgaria was searched at the request of a French judge during the course of the operation, prosecutors said.
Mr. Steidl grew up in the Var department in southern France. In April 2023, the French government agreed to his request to renounce his French citizenship. Last June, after his site was shut down, he was questioned by a Bulgarian trial judge in the presence of French law enforcement officials.
