A British man arrested for allegedly trying to marry a 9-year-old girl at Disneyland Paris for a sick social media stunt is a known pedophile wanted by UK authorities, prosecutors said.
The 39-year-old man — who was slapped with a slew of charges Tuesday over what may have been a sick social media stunt — has previously been convicted of child sex offenses in the UK, Agence France-Presse reported.
The British national, whose identity is being withheld due to legal reasons, is currently “wanted in his country for failing to comply with the obligations of the British sex offenders register,” Jean-Baptiste Bladier, the Meaux prosecutor, said.
Details of his rap sheet emerged after authorities nabbed him for allegedly posing as the “groom” during the wedding ceremony at the popular amusement park on Saturday.
Authorities said the park had been booked out for the wedding — at a reported cost of $150,000 — but concerned Disneyland employees quickly pulled the pin when they realized the “bride” was a 9-year-old Ukrainian girl.
The “scared and confused” little girl was spotted wearing a wedding dress and 5-inch heels “taped to her feet” when she showed up to the park, Le Parisien reported.
Authorities later believed the wedding was a stunt being filmed for social media.
The British “groom” was arrested alongside a 24-year-old Latvian woman posing as the bride’s sister, the little girl’s 41-year-old mom and a 55-year-old Latvian man who was recruited to be involved in the ceremony, authorities said.
The fake groom and his co-conspirators had allegedly blasted out an online ad in the lead up to recruit wedding guests to take part in the stunt — including 200 adults and 100 children between the ages 5 and 15.
The hired guests were allegedly told they were being paid to take part in a high-end wedding rehearsal.
“We all thought we were going to attend a wedding … Everyone was stunned, no one expected it,” one of the hired extras told the French outlet.
Prosecutors said the Ukrainian child, who had only just arrived in France prior to the saga, wasn’t subjected to any violence as a result of the twisted ordeal.
“The investigations, including the medical examination of the minor, a Ukrainian national, showed that she had not been subjected to any violence or coercive acts,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Disneyland Paris acknowledged they accepted payment for the event but “immediately cancelled” it when the “identification of significant irregularities” came to light.
The British man, who remains in custody, has been charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and identity theft.
