Man tried in Paris over Discord group abusing underage girls

Mixed · 2A 29-year-old man, named as Rohan (Rohane) Rane, went on trial in Paris on Monday 5 October 2026, accused of running a neo-Nazi/masculinist chat group on Discord in which young girls were forced into online sexual acts and self-harm. 1 2 Mixed · 2Rane, who came from India to study at a business school in Antibes, is described by investigators as the leader of a group of men from Germany, New Zealand and the United States who espoused racist and antisemitic ideology; he was arrested in 2021. 1 2 Mixed · 2The trial is expected to last until Friday and is being held behind closed doors at the request of US authorities, over the objection of Hippolyte Marquetty, lawyer for five American civil parties aged 18 to 21, who said his clients wanted to raise awareness of the dangers teenage girls face on social media. 1 2

Mixed · 2The court cited threats to witnesses and US prosecutors and the risk of publicity harmful to public morals; videos showing torture and humiliation of victims, many under 15, are due to be shown. 1 2 Mixed · 2The victims came from the US, the Netherlands, Britain and Estonia, and the case began in November 2020 with a report from the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, which found images of a 12-year-old girl encouraged to carve the name "Rohan" into her body. 1 2 Mixed · 2According to the accounts, the group, called "CVLT" or "Cult", lured vulnerable girls found on Instagram or other platforms, got them to send nude photos, then threatened to publish them or to make false emergency calls ("swatting") to trigger police raids. 1 2

Mixed · 2Members, calling themselves "warlords", allegedly forced victims, often Jewish or Black girls they called "slaves" or "housewives", into sexual acts including with knives, to carve names or swastikas into their skin, and were said to urge suicide by drinking bleach or strangling with a belt or leash. 1 2 Mixed · 2Rane is charged with torture or acts of barbarity against minors, organised extortion and distributing child sexual abuse material; RFI reports he admitted involvement at a March hearing, initially called it consensual role-play before expressing regret, and that the case was moved to the Assize Court in March 2025, making a life sentence possible instead of 20 years. 1 2 Right · 1The Daily Mail adds that a 26-year-old US member of the group has already been sentenced in the US for abducting and raping a 12-year-old in 2021, and quotes a US Department of Justice document saying CVLT espoused 'neo-Nazism, nihilism, and paedophilia as its core principles'; five American women were expected to testify by video link. 2