by Guillaume DAUDIN / Eleonore HUGHES
French police detained a major porn site owner and four others over rape and pimping allegations, prosecutors said Tuesday, a step hailed by feminists who say the industry is rife with sexual abuse of actresses.
The “Jacquie et Michel” website bills itself as a hub for “amateur” porn videos and has been the target of abuse claims by women who say they have suffered violence on set.
Owner Michel Piron, 64, was taken into custody for sexual assault and for complicity in rape, pimping and human trafficking, Paris prosecutors told AFP.
Three other men — identified as actors by a source close to the case who asked not to be named — were detained for rape, gang rape, pimping and human trafficking, prosecutors added.
Nicolas Cellupica, a lawyer for the company that owns the website, said Piron’s wife had also been arrested.
“It’s a great day for all women victims, the end of impunity for the criminal pornographic industry,” said Lorraine Questiaux, a lawyer for the three feminist groups who filed the complaint on behalf of victims.
“There’s still a lot to do but it’s an important new step that places human dignity and the fight against sexual exploitation at the heart of penal priorities,” Questiaux added.
Police opened an investigation into the website in July 2020 after feminist groups said actresses complained of being subjected to non-consensual “out of the ordinary and painful” sexual acts.
-Dozens of victims-
Cellupica said Piron was oblivious to the accusations of violence.
“He’s always said that he’s on the side of the victims if actresses were submitted to acts of sexual violence that he was perfectly unaware of,” Cellupica said, adding that “Jacquie et Michel” never produced adult entertainment videos but only distributed them.
Last month, representatives of “Jacquie et Michel” and France’s other major porn site Dorcel were grilled by senators over practices in the industry after dozens of women came forward with abuse stories.
In October, four French porn actors were charged with rape for the first time, over videos available for streaming on the “French Bukkake” website.
At least twelve people, including the producers nicknamed “Pascal OP” and “Mat Hadrix” are being investigated over charges of human trafficking, gang rape and pimping.
Feminists in France and elsewhere have ramped up campaigning to lift the taboo over violence in an industry in which women have long been portrayed as consenting to such acts.
In the US, porn star Ron Jeremy is due to stand trial for the rape or sexual assault of 21 women and girls, although in March a Los Angeles judge said he must first undergo a psychiatric assessment. — Agence France-Presse
