A 39-year-old British man, with a history of sex offenses with minors, was charged in Paris after paying for a “mock wedding” with a nine-year-old Ukrainian girl at Disneyland Paris.
The man, identified by BBC News as Jacky Jhaj, is still wanted for crimes allegedly committed in the UK, according to French prosecutors. Police also arrested the 41-year-old mother of the girl, a 24-year-old Latvian woman, and a 55-year-old Latvian man.
Jhaj has since been charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, and identity theft.
Police were called to the iconic park on Saturday morning after staff were alerted by a guest who informed them he had been hired to play the father of the bride. The man said he had been paid €12,000 but only later realized the “bride” was a young girl, Meaux prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier said in a statement.
Bladier added that it was currently understood that the child had not been made a victim of either physical or sexual violence, nor had she been "forced to play the role" of the bride.
"He is, as such, listed in the British database of sexual offenders and is currently wanted nationally by the judicial authorities of his country of origin due to a breach of the requirements deriving from the said order,” Bladier confirmed.
One of the over 100 hired guests told BFMTV she saw the "little girl dressed in white with her hair all done up, and I saw a woman who picked her up in her arms... and I was shocked, I burst into tears."
"When I saw [it was a] child - it was horrific."
Disneyland complained that they had been deceived in the booking process, as Jhaj provided a fake Latvian ID to make the booking, and the nature of the event was never disclosed.
Who is Jacky Jhaj?
Jhaj was found guilty in 2016 of sexual activity with two minors, BBC News reported. Since his conviction, he has hired and interacted with hundreds of minors, some as young as six, including many pretending to be fans at a fake film premiere in London's Leicester Square in 2023.
Teenage girls told the BBC that they had been told to try to touch him while acting as fans, but had not been told details of who he was.
Jhaj had also reportedly caught parents’ eyes when he delivered gifts to children outside dance auditions for another production.
In a statement, the UK's Metropolitan Police said: "A 39-year-old man is wanted by the Met Police for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a breach of a Sex Offenders' Register notification requirement.
"We are aware the man has been arrested in France for other matters, and officers are in contact with the French authorities."