Police have arrested 14 suspects in a criminal network in Senegal whereby children were forced to have unprotected sex with men, many of whom were HIV-positive. The suspected ringleader, French national Pierre Robert, was arrested in France last April, police said in a statement on Sunday.
Authorities in the West African country said the depraved operation dates back to 2017. The charges against the 14 suspects, all Senegalese nationals, include « child rape, pimping, acts against nature, and the deliberate transmission of HIV« , the police said.
The group allegedly filmed the sickening acts.
Four of the suspects are accused of acting as « sex trainers » and have allegedly admitted to carrying out the abuse in exchange for money transfers from Robert, according to the police. It was not immediately clear how many children were victims of the horrific abuse.
The arrests, following a joint investigation involving Senegalese and French authorities, were carried out in coordinated raids at the suspects’ homes in Dakar and in Kaolack, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) south-east of the capital.
Senegal has strict laws against the sexual abuse of children, with prison sentences ranging from five to 10 years for offences involving children under 16.
However, limited police resources, a lack of staff, and gaps in judicial follow-through have hampered the enforcement of child protection laws, Human Rights Watch said in a 2018 report.
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