Trial in Paris of Indian accused of leading neo-Nazi child sexual abuse network
Rohan Rane, a 29-year-old Indian national, is being tried in Paris for heading a neo-Nazi network involved in the sexual exploitation of children. Minor victims were forced to perform sexual acts online in several countries.
CVLT network: Indian man faces French justice for sexual exploitation of minors
A 29-year-old Indian national appeared on Monday before the Paris criminal court, in a closed hearing, for heading a neo-Nazi child sexual exploitation network that forced young girls to perform sexual acts online and self-harm, Hespress reports.
Rohan Rane, who came to France to study at a business school in Antibes before becoming a sports coach, is presented by investigators as the leader of this group. He was arrested in 2021 and appeared in the dock wearing a white t-shirt. He is being prosecuted for torture or barbaric acts against minors, organised extortion and distribution of child sexual abuse material. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment.
A group active in several countries
The network is suspected of having targeted minors in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Estonia. Its members—men from Germany, New Zealand and the United States—communicated via the Discord messaging platform. They displayed racist and antisemitic convictions and expressed marked hostility towards feminists and the LGBTQ community.
According to a judicial document published by the US Department of Justice, the group, which named itself CVLT, based its principles on "neo-Nazism, nihilism and paedophilia". Its members gave themselves the title of "warlords" and designated their victims—often black or Jewish girls—as "slaves" or "housemaids".
Methods of manipulation and coercion
The investigation established that network members recruited vulnerable minors on Instagram and other social media platforms. They persuaded them to send intimate photos, then threatened to publish them or extorted them by announcing fake emergency calls to security forces.
Victims were subsequently forced to perform sexual acts against their will, including with knives, or to carve the names of their abusers or Nazi swastikas on their own bodies. The group also encouraged them to commit suicide by ingesting bleach or strangling themselves with a belt or leash.
The case was triggered in November 2020 by a report from the American National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, following the discovery online of images of a 12-year-old girl with exposed chest, whilst another user encouraged her to carve the name "Rohan" on her body.
Closed hearing despite victims' opposition
The Paris criminal court ordered on Monday that proceedings be held in a closed hearing, at the request of American authorities. The court justified this decision by noting that the group, particularly active in the United States, had already attempted to intimidate victims and witnesses and had made threats against American prosecutors. The court also noted that videos showing scenes of torture and humiliation of victims, often under 15 years old, were to be viewed during hearings scheduled until Friday.
Five American women aged 18 to 21 filed as civil parties and were to testify via videoconference this week. Their lawyer, Hippolyte Marquetty, supported by child protection associations, had unsuccessfully opposed the closed hearing. He stated that his clients believed it was essential to raise public awareness of the dangers faced by teenage girls on social media.
Furthermore, one of the "warlords" of the network, a 26-year-old American citizen, has already been convicted in his country for kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old girl in 2021.
Source: Hespress