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France charges UK man over staged Disneyland ‘marriage’ with child

The man, who has a criminal record in Britain for sexual assault offences, staged the wedding with a girl, 9

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The man is suspected of hiring Disneyland Paris before it opened to the public on Saturday for the staged wedding event, in a contract worth €130,000 (US$151,000). Photo: EPA-EFE
Agence France-Presse
France charged a British citizen with offences including money laundering and identity theft after he allegedly organised a bizarre ceremony at Disneyland Paris where he played the role of the groom in a fake marriage with a nine-year-old girl, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

He is suspected of hiring the theme park before it opened to the public on Saturday for the staged wedding event, in a contract worth €130,000 (US$151,000).

The man, who has not been named but has a criminal record in Britain for sexual assault offences, has in addition to his charges also been named as an assisted witness – a step before being indicted – in a probe into suspected corruption of a minor, prosecutors said.
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The incident initially caused grave alarm when staff alerted police that it could have concerned an illegal child marriage, with the purported “bride” a nine-year-old Ukrainian girl.

It later turned out to have been entirely staged but authorities immediately launched an investigation.

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The British man played “the role of the groom after being professionally made up to display a face completely different from his own”, the prosector for the Meaux region Jean-Baptiste Bladier told AFP.

French judicial authorities were informed by their British counterparts that the man “has been convicted in the past, notably for sexual offences against minors”, he added on Tuesday.

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