Five men, including three minors, from Grigny (Essonne), were indicted on Friday for extortion by an organized gang with weapons, sexual assault and attempted rape of prostitutes, the public prosecutor of Évry Grégoire said on Saturday Flax.
These people, aged 16 to 19, were indicted for “organized gang extortion, organized gang extortion with a weapon and attempted organized gang extortion,” said the prosecutor. Four of them are also being prosecuted for “sexual assault on a person engaged in prostitution”. The last man, aged 19, is indicted for “attempted rape of a person engaged in prostitution”.
Ten violent attacks
The suspects were placed in pre-trial detention. “All of them, with the exception of one of them, ended up recognizing specific implications on certain facts,” said the prosecutor.
They are suspected of having perpetrated ten particularly violent attacks between March 20 and April 9, denounced by 25 prostitutes established in the communes of Viry-Châtillon, Ris-Orangis, Savigny-sur-Orge and Juvisy-sur-Orge, all located in the department of Essonne. According to the first elements of the investigation, the suspects contacted the prostitutes via the “sexemodel” website, in order to set up an appointment to benefit from a paid sexual service.
“The group of individuals then entered the accommodation, most often rented through Airbnb and generally occupied by several prostitutes,” before essentially stealing money and the victims’ cell phones, Dulin underlined. Some victims reported being beaten or even threatened with firearms.
Searches of the homes of the accused revealed “several particularly well imitated fake weapons”, as well as several personal effects belonging to the victims.