On October 29, 2024, the Paris Cour d’Assises began the trial of Bouhalem B., a former cartoon graphic artist accused of orchestrating the rape and sexual assault of young girls in the Philippines through live-streaming. The charges include acting over nearly ten years, with financial investigations revealing substantial funding linked to these abuses. Bouhalem B. has a previous conviction for sexual assault and faces life imprisonment, as civil parties represent the unidentified victims in this harrowing case of human trafficking and exploitation.
A groundbreaking trial commenced today, October 29, 2024, at the Cour d’Assises de Paris. The case involves a former cartoon graphic artist, Bouhalem B., who is facing serious allegations of sexual violence. He is charged with facilitating the rape and sexual assault of multiple young girls in the Philippines, acts he allegedly witnessed live through live-streaming video feeds. Originally from Melle (Deux-Sèvres), the accused had been residing in the United States since 2019. That same year, Europol alerted authorities about unusual and significant money transfers directed towards the Philippines.
The Rise of Live-Streaming Sexual Abuse
After spending three years in pre-trial detention, Bouhalem B. surrendered to French authorities on October 4, 2021. He is accused of orchestrating these heinous acts over nearly a decade, from 2012 to 2021, where young girls were subjected to abuse by adults, sometimes their own parents. Operating from either France or the United States, Bouhalem B. directed these criminal activities, which Le Parisien described as ‘perverse and disturbingly illegal’. A psychiatric evaluation depicted his character as ‘pedophilic and sadistic’. During his confession, he claimed to have invested 10,000 euros in these operations, correlating to roughly 200 abuses. However, the indictment deems this a ‘low estimate’, as financial investigations revealed ‘50,000 euros of suspicious funds, equating to an average of 1,000 sexual abuses’. Meanwhile, the defense argues that these assertions are ‘fantastical’. This shocking trend of live-streamed sexual violence is regrettably becoming more prevalent, especially in Southeast Asian regions that are already plagued by sex tourism. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these practices, as travel restrictions led to a surge in remote exploitation. The indictment highlights that this crime involves the sexual exploitation of minors who are being abused ‘under the remote control’ of individuals from Western countries.
Human Trafficking and Sexual Crimes
During previous court inquiries following his surrender in 2021, Bouhalem B. recounted viewing abuse images while engaging in sexual acts himself. He also acknowledged the existence of a pedo-criminal network that utilized live-streaming for exploitation. According to the investigating judge, ‘The crimes occurred within a network of criminal activities in the Philippines’, and the accused cannot ‘deny the economic exploitation of the minors involved’. The trial witnesses a lack of presence from the victims, who are mainly unidentified, but they are represented by seven civil party organizations. ‘This is a case filled with human trafficking, rape, sexual assault, and possession of child pornography’, stated Céline Astolphe, legal representative for the Fondation pour l’enfance. Currently, Bouhalem B. is the sole defendant in this trial. He has a prior conviction from 2014, where he was sentenced to two years for sexual assaults against his 15-year-old stepdaughter. In January 2020, US authorities arrested him after he falsely claimed to have no criminal history while applying for a visa, leading to the discovery of several child pornography images, including those of Asian girls, on his phone. Bouhalem B. now faces the possibility of life imprisonment.