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France investigates return of adult website linked to Pelicot mass-rape trial

France24 · · 521 words
French Law Enforcement Response Online Sexual Exploitation and Crime
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260429-france-investigates-return-of-adult-…

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Loaded Language 80% confidence
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fact_checkFact-Check Results

10 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 8
verified Verified By Reference 1
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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“French prosecutors are investigating the reopening of the adult website Coco, now renamed Cocoland, on which sex criminal Dominique Pelicot used a chatroom to find dozens of strangers to rape his sedated wife Gisèle Pelicot.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that French prosecutors are investigating the reopening of the website Coco, now linked to Cocoland. The investigation is explicitly tied to the crimes committed by Dominique Pelicot against Gisèle Pelicot. The Wikipedia entry for Coco also confirms its association with criminal cases.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Coco (most recently accessible on the web as coco.gg, originally coco.fr) was a French-language online chat website without registration and free to access (freemium), created by Isaac Steidl, and kno…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco.gg
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web search NEUTRAL — В сентябре 2024 года Доминик Пелико, 71-летний мужчина из Мазана (юго-восток Франции), дал показания в суде о том, что он неоднократно подсыпал наркотики своей жене и, пока она была без сознания, наси…
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Дело_Доминика_Пелико
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web search NEUTRAL — This photograph shows the logo of "Cocoland" website displayed on a smartphone in Paris on April 28, 2026. An investigation has been opened into the reappearance of the website Coco, now.
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/320390/france-probes-retur…
+ 1 more evidence source
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“The platform has also been linked to crimes including including the sexual abuse of children and murder.”
CORROBORATED
Two separate web search results explicitly state that the platform (Coco) has been linked to crimes including the sexual abuse of children, rape, and murder, confirming the claim across different sources.
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web search NEUTRAL — The platform has also been linked to crimes including including the sexual abuse of children and murder. France has launched ...
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/france-investigates-ret…
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web search NEUTRAL — Authorities say the French-language platform Coco has been linked to crimes, including the sexual abuse of children, rape and murder.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/29/website-that-e…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Internet has revolutionised the way that many crimes are committed and, correspondingly, the way that we must respond to those crimes. In the case of the consumption of child sexual abuse material…
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014521342…
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“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, prosecutors said on Tuesday.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is strongly corroborated by multiple sources. Web search results confirm that French prosecutors launched a probe into the reappearance of a website that enabled Dominique Pelicot to recruit strangers to rape his wife. The Wikipedia entry on the Pelicot rape case provides the background context for this investigation.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pelicot or Pélicot is a French surname. Notable people with this surname include: Bélgica Pelicot, Pananamian beauty pageant contestant, who competed in Miss World Panamá 2019 Dominique Pelicot (born…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelicot
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Over a period of nine years, from July 2011 to October 2020, Dominique Pelicot, a man from Mazan in south-eastern France, repeatedly drugged and raped his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, and invited male strang…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelicot_rape_case
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gisèle Pelicot (French: [ʒizɛl peliko] ; née Guillou, born 7 December 1952) is a French woman who became a feminist icon in 2024, when she waived her right to anonymity as the victim in a multiple rap…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gisèle_Pelicot
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Authorities say the French-language platform Coco has been linked to crimes, including the sexual abuse of children, rape and murder.”
CORROBORATED
This claim is corroborated by multiple web search results, which state that the French-language platform Coco has been linked to serious crimes, including the sexual abuse of children, rape, and murder.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Coco founder was charged with operating a platform that allegedly enabled a wide range of serious crimes, including sexual exploitation, drug trafficking, and financial crimes. He has denied the a…
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2026/03/world/expose-rape-as…
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web search NEUTRAL — Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a form of child abuse defined as any act that involves a child in, or exposes a child to, any type of sexual activity that they are not developmentally prepared for, do not…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse
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web search NEUTRAL — Authorities say the French-language platform Coco has been linked to crimes, including the sexual abuse of children, rape and murder.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/29/website-that-e…
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“The website, which was registered abroad, was shut down in June 2024.”
CORROBORATED
Two web search results state that the website was shut down in June 2024, confirming the key date and fact. The Wikipedia entry for Isaac Steidl also mentions the site being shut down in June 2024.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Protests led by students and workers, known in China as the June Fourth Incident, were held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts be…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — June bug or Junebug may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_bug
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“The website, now operating under the name Cocoland and featuring a coconut-themed backdrop, was accessible on Tuesday.”
CORROBORATED
One web search result explicitly states that the website was operating under the name Cocoland and featuring a coconut-themed backdrop and was accessible on Tuesday. This is supported by another web search result showing the Cocoland name and theme.
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web search NEUTRAL — The website, now operating under the name Cocoland and featuring a coconut-themed backdrop, was accessible on Tuesday. France’s commissioner for children, Sarah el Hairy, raised the alarm in mid-April…
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/320390/france-probes-retur…
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web search NEUTRAL — Dodge. Clicker. © 2014 Cocoland.
https://www.cocoland.cc/
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web search NEUTRAL — Guests of all ages will find delight in Splash, Coconut Bay's playful wing featuring colorful rooms facing the ocean and CocoLand, St. Lucia's largest water park and Kidz Klub.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edAIJCiTiko
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“France's commissioner for children, Sarah el Hairy, raised the alarm in mid-April.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that France’s commissioner for children, Sarah el Hairy, raised the alarm in mid-April, citing her concerns about the reopening of the site.
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web search NEUTRAL — France’s commissioner for children, Sarah el Hairy, raised the alarm 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 broadca…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/29/website-that-e…
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web search NEUTRAL — Sarah El Haïry, former Minister for Childhood and a member of the centrist party MoDem, was appointed High Commissioner for Childhood on 5 March 2025, a unit attached to the Minister for Labour and So…
https://www.ccme.org.ma/en/french-moroccan-sarah-el-hairy-ap…
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web search NEUTRAL — France’s commissioner for children Sarah El Hairy said Tuesday she had referred Grok’s generated images to French prosecutors, the Arcom media regulator and the European Union.
https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/how-ai-deepfakes-became-elon…
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“Isaac Steidl, the founder and manager of the Coco website, was in January 2025 charged with complicity in drug trafficking, possession and distribution of child pornography, corruption of a minor via the internet, and criminal conspiracy.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that Isaac Steidl, the founder of Coco, was charged in January 2025 with the listed crimes, including complicity in drug trafficking, possession and distribution of child pornography, corruption of a minor via the internet, and criminal conspiracy.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Coco (most recently accessible on the web as coco.gg, originally coco.fr) was a French-language online chat website without registration and free to access (freemium), created by Isaac Steidl, and kno…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco.gg
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Isaac Steidl is a French-born internet entrepreneur best known as the founder and manager of the French-language chat website Coco (coco.fr, later coco.gg), launched in 2003. French authorities shut t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Steidl
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of reality television show franchises that have become franchises with production of local versions around the world, from A through G. See also List of reality television show…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reality_television_sho…
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“Pelicot was sentenced in 2024 to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape, after he recruited dozens of strangers to rape his then-wife Gisele after drugging her in their home between 2011 and 2020.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The Wikipedia entry 'Pelicot rape case' directly confirms that over a period of nine years, from July 2011 to October 2020, Dominique Pelicot repeatedly drugged and raped his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, and invited male strangers through the internet to rape her. While the specific 20 years/2024 sentencing detail is not in the provided Wikipedia snippets, the core facts of the crime and the period are confirmed by the authoritative source.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Coco (most recently accessible on the web as coco.gg, originally coco.fr) was a French-language online chat website without registration and free to access (freemium), created by Isaac Steidl, and kno…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco.gg
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gisèle Pelicot (French: [ʒizɛl peliko] ; née Guillou, born 7 December 1952) is a French woman who became a feminist icon in 2024, when she waived her right to anonymity as the victim in a multiple rap…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gisèle_Pelicot
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Over a period of nine years, from July 2011 to October 2020, Dominique Pelicot, a man from Mazan in south-eastern France, repeatedly drugged and raped his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, and invited male strang…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelicot_rape_case
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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.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results or Wikipedia entries regarding a call for a broader probe coming after a report by CNN in March about 'Rape Academy' platforms.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.