Minor arrested in TikTok rape case as drugged chocolate seized
The interrogation of detainees in the so-called TikTokers case has led to the arrest of a 16-year-old boy who had been molested before he took part in blackmailing other minors, MTV reported.
“The arrest took place Monday evening and he is being questioned by the anti-cybercrime bureau of the Internal Security Forces,” the TV network added.
OTV meanwhile reported that the aforementioned bureau has raided a warehouse in Dbaye where large quantities of “chocolate containing narcotics” were found.
The drugged chocolate “belongs to one of the detainees held in the TikTokers gang case,” OTV said, adding that the candies had been used to drug minors prior to molestation.
Mount Lebanon Attorney General Tanios al-Saghbeeni had on May 9 filed charges against 12 suspects in the case. Those charged included five detainees.
“The investigative judge has been asked to send the arrest warrants to the Interpol once they are issued and to send two judicial assistance requests to an Arab country and a European country in which (the suspects) Peter Naffah and Paul Maouchi are suspected to be residing,” the National News Agency said.
According to reports, the gang comprises 30 members while at least 30 children have been molested.
A judicial official meanwhile told AFP that minors who are famous on TikTok were used to lure other minors who were allegedly "drugged, raped and blackmailed into promoting drugs."
The arrests came after children complained to the public prosecution about being "sexually assaulted and photographed by members of an organized gang, and forced to use drugs in hotels," the Internal Security Forces said.
They were lured through a "clothing shop account offering deals or promises of being featured in advertisements, or through a hair salon or fake social media accounts," a security official said.
Suspects "raped them, filmed the rapes and then made them watch the videos, and blackmailed them, threatening to post the footage (online) if they spoke out," he added.
