Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is suspected of participating in a human trafficking network, including minors.
This is reported by the Romanian newspaper Libertatea.
The investigation was launched following a complaint from a 26-year-old Romanian woman who claimed to have been sexually exploited by the actor in Cannes ten years ago.
According to her, at an event in Cannes, the actor used the sexual services of five Romanian women at once, who were forced into prostitution. In her complaint, she claimed that “the girls were given to the actor” and that those present knew that the girls were being exploited.
The case involving Van Damme was opened under three articles: using the services of an exploited person, creating a criminal group, and human trafficking.
Romanian media outlet Hotnews reports that the girls were recruited for the actor by Romanian businessman and modeling agency owner Morel Bolea. In 2022, he was charged with trafficking in minors. According to investigators, the businessman involved the girls in activities related to “sexual exploitation with the use of psychological coercion” through his modeling agency.
This is not the first time Van Damme has been accused of sexual assault, Libertatea reminds. In 2022, Belgian prosecutors opened an investigation against him after a complaint about an incident that occurred in August 2021 in a Brussels bar. At that time, a 33-year-old woman said that the actor tried to attack her, offering to have an intimate relationship. The police opened a case, Jean-Claude Van Damme denied the charges.
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