British sex offender charged after staging 'fake wedding' to nine-year-old girl at Disneyland Paris

24 June 2025, 23:41 | Updated: 25 June 2025, 02:26

39-year-old Jacky Jahj was previously jailed in the UK for sex offences
39-year-old Jacky Jahj was previously jailed in the UK for sex offences. Picture: Alamy, Met Police

By Henry Moore

A British sex offender who planned a “mock wedding” at Disneyland Paris with a nine-year-old girl has been charged.

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39-year-old Jacky Jahj, who was previously jailed in the UK for sex offences and took on the role of the groom in the sick show, has been charged with a slew of offences, including fraud, abuse of trust, money laundering and identity theft.

Staff at the theme park intervened to halt the ceremony and contacted police when they saw the girl, a nine-year-old Ukrainian, wearing a wedding dress.

The organisers of the disturbing event had rented the park for what they said would be a genuine wedding ceremony.

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Sleeping Beauty Castle, Fantasyland, Disneyland Paris.
Sleeping Beauty Castle, Fantasyland, Disneyland Paris. Picture: Alamy

The “guests” were recruited online through adverts seeking 200 adults and 100 children aged between 5 and 15 to act as guests at a “rehearsal” for a wedding at Disneyland.

Police were alerted by a so-called guest who later revealed he was hired to play the father of the “bride.”

French prosecutors said the man "explained he was paid €12,000 (£10,000) to play the role of the father of the bride and realised at the last minute that she was nine years old.”

Aside from the “groom”, the girl’s mother, a 24-year-old Latvian woman and a 55-year-old Latvian man were also arrested on Saturday.

The British sex offender appeared before the tribunal of Meaux on Monday.

Jhaj was jailed in the UK for "for sexual offences against minors", prosecutors said.

At the time, Detective Constable Nav Johal, the investigating officer from Hounslow CID, said: "Thanks to the courage and bravery of the young vulnerable victims who gave evidence, a dangerous sexual predator has been brought to justice.

“I am hopeful that the verdict and sentencing will give them some peace and closure, and they will be able to, in time, move forward from this difficult period."

Since his 2016 conviction, the paedophile has gone on to commit a slew of bizarre stunts.

Last year, Jhaj staged an explosion using an old BBC truck, going on to claim it was part of a film production stunt.