Five young girls, some of them minors at the time of the events, coming from the four corners of France, but who find themselves this Wednesday on the same bench of civil parties, victims of the same man according to the same operating procedure. This Wednesday, the Marseille criminal court is looking into a case of false castings on social networks, orchestrated by a man aged around thirty at the time of the events, who pushed them to undress via their webcam. Facts that the person concerned, unknown to the police, admitted from the start of the procedure. 20 minutes make the point.
What is the starting point of this affair?
On September 6, 2021, the mother of a 17-year-old girl made a report on the Pharos platform, this system set up by the Ministry of the Interior to fight against cybercrime. That day, his daughter connected on Skype at the invitation of a certain Célia who had approached him on Instagram a few days earlier and complimented him on his photos. This woman introduced herself as an American casting director and offered her modeling. On the day of the meeting, the so-called casting director “asked her to activate her webcam,” says the young person’s lawyer, Me Elsa Crozatier. “She is hesitant but gives in, reassured by his words. The casting director says, however, that for her part, she has a camera problem. » The female voice on the other side of the screen asks her “little by little to take off her sweater, then other clothes, until she finds herself completely naked”.
Before the investigators, the teenager will say that the casting director asked her to bring her penis closer to the camera and to do more sexual poses. The teenager, however, refused to masturbate in front of the lens as demanded by her interlocutor. The investigators then made the link with other cases, in particular a complaint filed by a young girl from Haute-Garonne in March 2021 for similar facts.
What is the operating procedure?
During their investigation, the police were able to identify several other victims who had suffered similar acts. These young girls were first contacted by private message on Instagram by a woman whose name actually corresponds to a real American casting director who lived in Georgia. They were invited to a casting on Skype where, each time, the person behind the screen did not turn on their supposedly defective camera. A female voice gradually encouraged them to undress, claiming, for example, to check the symmetry of their breasts.
The casting even took place in the presence of the mother of one of the victims who are now civil parties. “The operating procedure was extremely rigorous,” said this young girl’s lawyer, Me Sophie Mongis. It had generated a questionnaire and even a newsletter for parents with a release! »
Quickly identified thanks to her IP address, the so-called casting director turned out to be in reality a Marseillais born in 1982 who quickly admitted the facts to investigators. In particular, he used software to distort his voice and explained that he took video captures of these castings on Skype. He was indicted for “taking the name of a third party” which could lead to criminal proceedings against him, “corruption of a minor with contact via an electronic communication network” and “possession of an image of a minor presenting pornographic in nature. He faces up to seven years in prison for acts ranging from March 29, 2021 to March 2, 2022.
Who is the defendant?
The accused, a father of a family by profession, is completely unknown to the police. The expertise carried out on his computer reveals that this man deleted more than 132,000 files one night in March 2022, a few months after the first complaint filed in this case. Among the files available to experts on the phone and computer, investigators found numerous photographs of a child pornography nature. The police also found videos taken on this computer using a camera hidden in a bathroom. Images in which the person concerned’s sister-in-law was identified.
Asked about the false castings he was organizing, the Marseillais quickly admitted the facts. He explains that he did this in order to masturbate and satisfy his sexual desires, complaining of a lack of libido in his partner. Although he admits to having already consulted child pornography sites, he denies any attraction towards minors. He also admits to having acted in this way with other young girls than those cited in this file, some of whom he knew were in the minority. Several of his victims were identified by investigators but did not wish to file a complaint.
“My client is deeply ashamed and, to be honest, his reaction does not reveal what he really is,” says his lawyer, Me François-Xavier Kozan. And to say, without wanting to say more: “He is someone who had to suffer the consequences of a childhood and adolescent past and who resurfaced in his adult life. And he took advantage of the time given to him to truly engage in introspection and follow-up to identify the causes of his reactions and treat them. »
Who are the victims ?
In total, five young girls, aged 15 to 18 at the time of the events, filed a complaint. They contacted each other via social networks shortly after the events, and, according to their lawyers, still have after-effects today. “I find my client still quite upset, even if they are all united,” reports Me Laurie Combes, lawyer for one of the five victims, living in Haute-Garonne. She is awaiting sentencing because what happened is very complicated for an 18-year-old girl who is in the process of developing her personality and her relationship to sexuality. This is not trivial and it has left its mark. » If several victims will not make the trip, the youngest of them wants to be present at the hearing, as well as her mother. “She experiences with great apprehension the fact of physically meeting the defendant whom she does not know since he had hidden his face. But if she filed a complaint like the other victims, it was so that he would stop causing harm. It is almost a political and public utility issue. »