The owner of the pornographic site Jacquie and Michel indicted

Michel Piron, the owner of the pornographic site Jacquie et Michel, was indicted on Friday June 17 for complicity in rape and human trafficking in an organized gang. Placed under judicial control, he was able to emerge free from the court, while the prosecution had requested his placement in pre-trial detention during a public hearing before the judge of freedoms and detention (JLD).

Mr. Piron had been placed in police custody on Tuesday, June 14, as part of an investigation by the first judicial police district of Paris. Three other men – a former actor and two former directors – have also been indicted in this case for rape, complicity in rape, pimping in an organized gang and human trafficking in an organized gang. One of them, placed in pre-trial detention, is also being prosecuted for complicity in rape with an act of torture and barbarism. As for the other two, one was imprisoned pending a deferred hearing on his detention, and the other placed under judicial supervision.

Mr. Piron’s wife, arrested at the same time as her husband on Tuesday, was placed under the intermediate status of assisted witness. She therefore emerged free on Friday from the Paris court.

Resignation of Michel Piron

In a press release, Mr.^e Nicolas Cellupica, lawyer for the Arès group, chaired by Mr. Piron and owner of the pornographic site, affirmed that Mr. Piron was accused “facts – disputed – concerning a single complainant, in 2013”.

“The offense of pimping was not held against him”he adds, also announcing that Mr. Piron had decided to leave the group for the duration of this procedure.

“The Jacquie et Michel group acquires and distributes thousands of videos per year produced by independent producers and deeply regrets that seven contentious scenes have been shot among them, over the last twenty years”he points out.

Before the JLD, the representative of the public prosecutor described a “system of pimping and human trafficking”with some “broken women”. “We lead them into a trap”she said, denouncing a “procedure that traps victims in this system”.

The defense lawyers for their part castigated “two years of procedure” during which “no act of investigation” had not intervened according to them. “The vision of the public prosecutor is to say that porn is only a form of violence”launched one of the lawyers. “Out of 7,000 women [filmées], there are seven plaintiffs”underlined Mr.^e Yves Levano, lawyer for Mr. Piron.

The French amateur pornographic world shaken up

The prosecution had entrusted this investigation in July 2020, opened after a report sent by the associations Dare feminism, Les Effronté-es and the Mouvement du nid, to the Paris judicial police. These associations relayed the testimonies of several actresses who claimed to have been forced into “non-standard and painful sexual practices” when they did not consent.

The group which based its success on the purchase at low prices of amateur videos in France, before gradually professionalizing its production. The company, founded in 1999, now competes with Dorcel, one of the leaders in the porn industry.

Another survey carried out in Paris since 2020 has greatly shaken up the world of French amateur porn by targeting the practices of the French Bukkake platform. At least twelve people, including the producers nicknamed “Pascal OP” and “Mat Hadix”, are being prosecuted in this case, exceptional in its scope and open for aggravated human trafficking, gang rape or aggravated pimping. Since then, investigators have identified dozens of victims.

Also listen The investigation that makes French porn tremble