The creator of the website Dominique Pélicot used to invite dozens of men to rape her after drugging his wife went 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.
The website he created in 2003, called coco.fr, became famous in France during the trial of Mr Pelicot and 50 others. 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 transaction. Other charges he faces include complicity in drug trafficking, complicity in the 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, some men said the website had become a den of predators who paid €5 a month to communicate in private chat rooms with names such as “without her knowledge”. The site was not moderated, several defendants testified. According to French newspaper Le Monde, he kept no record of the messages.
Many said during the trial that after contacting Mr Pelicot on the site, they moved to private conversations via text or Skype to arrange a visit to the Pelicots' home in southern France, where they joined him in raping the ex. wife while he 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 across 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 French law enforcement officials by an investigating judge in Bulgaria.