Rohan Rane on trial over alleged child abuse ring

Rohan Rane, a 29-year-old Indian national, went on trial in Paris on Monday accused of running a neo-Nazi child exploitation ring in which young girls were allegedly coerced into performing sexual acts online and harming themselves.

Rane is being tried on charges including torture or acts of barbarity against minors, organised extortion and dissemination of child sexual abuse material. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Investigators describe Rane as the group's leader. They say the victims, most of them minors, were targeted by men from Germany, New Zealand and the United States who communicated on Discord and espoused racist and anti-Semitic views, as well as hostility toward feminists and the LGBT+ community.

The case began in November 2020 with a report from the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which found online images of a 12-year-old girl with her chest exposed while another user encouraged her to carve the name “Rohan” into her body.

Five American women, aged 18 to 21, have joined the case as civil parties and were expected to testify by video link this week.

The Paris criminal court ordered the trial to be held behind closed doors. The decision followed a request from US authorities and came despite a request for an open trial by Hippolyte Marquetty, a lawyer for the five American victims.

The presiding judge said the group allegedly led by Rane had already sought to intimidate victims and witnesses and had threatened US prosecutors. The court also cited the risk of offending public morality, saying videos showing the torture and humiliation of victims, often under the age of 15, were expected to be shown during proceedings scheduled to run until Friday.

Marquetty, backed by child protection groups, opposed the closed-door trial. He said his clients believed it was important to raise awareness of the dangers teenage girls face on social media.

Rane declined to comment on the request for a closed-door trial.