British man arrested in Disneyland for staging fake wedding with 9-year-old girl

A man named Jaskarn Jhaj, alias Jacky Jhaj, who is a British citizen, has been arrested at Disneyland in Paris for allegedly organising a mock wedding involving a nine-year-old Ukrainian girl.

The 39-year-old was previously found guilty of sexual activity with two 15-year-old girls in 2016 in England.

He was arrested last week when police were called by a 55-year-old actor who said he had been hired by Jhaj to play the father of the bride. The police stated that the British national used a false identity from Latvia along with forged documents to arrange the event.

He was charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and identity theft, according to French prosecutors.

Jhaj paid GBP 111,000 (approximately Rs 1.21 crore) to stage the vile fake event at the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty castle, featuring musicians, a cake, and chairs for hundreds of “guests”, according to the UK’s Daily Mail.

According to police sources in Paris, Jhaj, pretending to be the 22-year-old “groom”, enlisted professional makeup artists to alter his appearance, The Daily Mail reported.

According to media reports, he was planning to create a video for his social media account.

Jhaj was presented before a judge in Meaux, northeast of Paris, on Monday, where he faced charges including fraud, breach of trust, identity theft, and money laundering. He is currently being held in custody.

PREVIOUSLY JAILED FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCE

The London Metropolitan Police said the suspect was wanted in Britain for breaching court orders relating to previous child sex offending, according to a report in New York Times (NYT).

In 2016, Jhaj was sentenced to four years in prison for sexual activity with two teenagers and handed an order restricting his activities on release. In a statement at the time, the Metropolitan Police said he had driven around schools in Hounslow, a neighbourhood of West London, trying to pick up girls by claiming he was a Hollywood film producer and offering them alcohol, NYT reported.

Jean-Baptiste Bladier, the Meaux prosecutor, said that the girl had not been “forced into the role”.

MOTHER WANTED HER DAUGHTER TO FEEL LIKE A DISNEY PRINCESS

The nine-year-old girl attended the fake event with her mother, both of whom are Ukrainian nationals who arrived in France two days prior. A medical examination later confirmed that the child had not been physically or sexually harmed and showed no signs of being coerced into participating.

The girl’s mother, who was also arrested, had reportedly said she wanted her daughter to feel like a Disney “princess” for the day, according to Germany-based news channel DW.

In June 2024, Jhaj was again arrested after being seen speaking to young girls outside a casting session at a dance school in east London, and taking videos and photos without their parents’ consent, NYT reported.

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