Screenshot of the “Numérama” site - Capture.

The French Youtubeur ExperimentBoy, which has more than a million subscribers today on this social network, is accused of corruption of minors by a dozen people interviewed by the Numérama site . Among them, two have filed a complaint. A collective report was also sent in June 2020 to the Public Prosecutor, announces the online magazine.

The facts extend from 2013 to 2019, according to this investigation by journalist Marie Turcan. They were revealed in particular because a young man, Quentin, denounced them in early March in a tweet: “He used his notoriety to use me as a remote sex slave. I was 13 years old, without being able to consent to such a thing. At the time, ExperimentBoy was 23 years old, according to screenshots released by Numérama.

"Unhealthy appearance"

Five other people were minors under the age of 15 at the time of the events. This is the case of another teenager who wished to remain anonymous and was named Pierre by Numérama , who was also 13 years old when he started talking to ExperimentBoy in 2013. At the time, the Youtubeur was 19 years old.

“He explained to me how to masturbate, gave me advice (...) I did not understand the unhealthy aspect of the thing, says Pierre, who adds: Each conversation launched, on Skype or Hangouts, was intended to diverge towards something sexual. ".

"I realized that I was a victim"

The second complaint comes from another boy, called Jason by Numérama , who is 16 years and 11 months old at the time of the facts, when his favorite Yououtuber is 24. “Yes, but remember my age”, Jason warns in English ( "Yes, but remember my age"), when the YouTuber initiates a sexual conversation.

Later when Jason comes back to these messages, he will feel a deep unease: “I watched these conversations again, and I realized that there was a problem. I realized that I was a victim. He filed a complaint in June 2020.

What the law says

Corruption of a minor is punishable by five years' imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros. The Larousse defines it as a “crime consisting in arousing the sexual impulses of a minor, for example by making him a witness of sexual acts, by providing him with pornographic objects or documents. "The Court of Cassation specified in 2013 that it is about" acts, which by their nature, translate, on the part of their author, the will to pervert the sexuality of a minor ".

Sexual proposals from an adult to a minor under 15 using an electronic means of communication are also punishable by law with two years' imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros.

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  • Sexuality
  • Minor
  • Corruption
  • Youtube
  • Culture