Two sordid cases of ambushes to the detriment of the homosexual community gave rise to placement in pre-trial detention, for the most serious acts, and to strict educational measures for the very young attackers. The nine minors involved were referred this week.
In the first case, five teenagers were arrested at the beginning of this week. These college students from Aulnay-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis) aged 14 to 16 had trapped men on April 23, 24 and 28, in Blanc-Mesnil, by contacting them via Grindr, a homosexual dating application .
After hitting them, they tried to steal their personal belongings. Then, they gloated about their misdeeds on Instagram. “It’s (sic) no point in talking so as not to act (…) Next time it will be pedo,” they wrote in their messaging, where they posted selfies with their victims. In their minds, they were in fact confusing homosexuality with pedophile.
The attackers were able to be identified because they were filmed by video surveillance cameras. For two of them, the arrests took place in their school, in the principal’s office. They did not recognize the homophobic intent.
They are accused of “theft with violence”, in particular “because of the sexual orientation of the victims” and “aggravating circumstances such as ambushes”. One young person was placed under judicial supervision and the four others are subject to temporary judicial educational measures, including a curfew.
In the other case, two minors were placed in detention and two others under judicial supervision for attacks committed on April 15 and 17, in Aulnay-sous-Bois. “The prosecution had requested the incarceration of the four,” underlines Éric Mathais, public prosecutor of Bobigny, who specifies that he has appealed.
The charges are heavy because the facts are particularly serious. An investigation was opened for “rape preceded or accompanied by acts of torture and barbarity by an organized gang; organized gang robberies; aggravated violence, in particular due to ambushes and the sexual orientation of the victims”, but also “extortion, dissemination of images which could harm the integrity of the victims; kidnapping, sequestration and extortion”. Facts punishable by the juvenile court.
