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Journalism of Courage
A convicted British sex offender staged a fake wedding to a 9-year-old girl at Disneyland Paris, the BBC has reported. Jacky Jhaj, 39, allegedly rented out the park after hours using a false identity and brought in a child actor to play the bride. French authorities say the girl was not harmed, but Jhaj has now been charged in connection with the event.
Jhaj, from west London, was jailed in 2016 for sexual activity with two 15-year-old girls. He is on the Sex Offenders Register and subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Since his release, he has organised several elaborate events involving children, often under the guise of film productions or public stunts.
According to the BBC, Jhaj booked Disneyland using a fake Latvian ID. He also flew in the young girl from Ukraine and hired actors for the event one was reportedly paid £10,000. This is not his first stunt. In 2023, he staged a fake red-carpet event in Leicester Square where children as young as six were paid to act as his fans. Similar stunts have been held at the British Museum, the Royal Exchange, and Oxford University.
Jhaj often used disguises, including prosthetic make-up, to hide his identity. He also uploaded videos of these events to YouTube, where one channel had over 12 million subscribers. Many of these videos remained online for years until the BBC flagged them to Google.
The BBC obtained a copy of the court order restricting Jhaj’s movements. While it bars him from contacting previous victims and unsupervised interaction with underage girls, it does not explicitly prevent him from hosting public events involving children if adults are present. At the Leicester Square event, some children were accompanied by chaperones, meaning the stunt technically did not breach the order.
A police officer involved in monitoring Jhaj told the BBC that he was responsible for dozens of offenders at once, and called the workload “challenging.” National guidelines suggest one officer for every 50 offenders, but some UK forces have admitted that the ratio can be as high as one to 85.
Jhaj is currently in French custody. Disneyland Paris declined to comment. The Metropolitan Police say Jhaj is wanted for breaching restrictions in the UK and is also under investigation for potential fraud.
French prosecutors said the theme park had been “deceived” by the organiser. The BBC continues to investigate how Jhaj managed to fund these expensive stunts and evade stricter supervision.
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