France has launched a probe into the reappearance of a website that enabled sex criminal Dominique Pelicot to recruit dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife, Gisèle Pelicot, prosecutors said on Tuesday, April 28.
Authorities say the French-language platform Coco has been linked to crimes, including the sexual abuse of children, rape and murder. The website, which was registered abroad, was shut down in June 2024. "The Paris public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the website's reopening," the prosecutor's office told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The website, now operating under a new URL and the name Cocoland and featuring a coconut-themed backdrop, was seen to be accessible on Tuesday. Prior to the platform's re-emergence, the investigation into the Coco platform was "well advanced," according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
France's high commissioner for children, Sarah El Haïry, raised the alarm on the situation in mid-April. "The reopening of the Coco site is a real slap in the face to the promise of protection we've made," she told the broadcaster RMC at the time. Such websites "exploit every loophole, they seek out prey, and that prey is children," she said, adding: "We will track them down, we will hound them, we will give them no respite."
Several criminal cases
The platform has been at the centre of several criminal cases, including the high-profile Pelicot trial. In 2024, Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape, after he recruited dozens of strangers to rape his then-wife after drugging her in their home between 2011 and 2020.
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He spoke to potential attackers on the website's chatroom called "A son insu" ("Without his/her knowledge").
In January 2025, Isaac Steidl, the founder and manager of the Coco website, was charged with complicity in drug trafficking, possession and distribution of child pornography, corruption of a minor via the internet and criminal conspiracy. He has denies the charges.
His lawyer Julien Zanatta said Steidl had "nothing to do" with the new website.
Women's rights groups call for a broader probe
On Tuesday, two French women's rights groups called for the authorities to launch a broader probe into other, similar websites and platforms.
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The appeal came after a report by US news network CNN in March on so-called "Rape Academy" platforms, where men around the world exchange tips on drugging and raping their partners while filming the scenes.
"Given recent cases such as that of Gisèle Pelicot, it is highly likely that French users are participating (on such sites) and that victims in France are involved," the Women's Foundation and the group M'endors pas ("Don't Put Me to Sleep") said in a joint statement. The latter group was co-founded by Gisèle Pelicot's daughter, Caroline Darian. "These are not isolated episodes but organised crimes by fully fledged communities that encourage and structure such violence," the groups said.
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