‘French-led paedophile network’ busted in Senegal

The group trained young boys and forced them into unprotected sexual acts with men, most of whom are HIV-positive, Senegalese investigators have said.

Senegalese police have arrested 14 people and dismantled what the West African nation’s authorities described as a transnational pedophile network led by a French national identified as Pierre Robert.

In a statement on Monday, police said the suspects, all Senegalese nationals, were arraigned on Friday at the High Court in the capital, Dakar, on charges including organized pedophilia, pimping, rape of minors under 15, sodomy, and intentional transmission of HIV/AIDS.

According to the Criminal Investigations Division, members of the “criminal group,” which has been active since at least 2017, operate between France and Senegal.

The group “specialized in so-called ‘sex training’ for young boys,” forced them into unprotected sexual acts with men, “most of whom are HIV-positive,” and filmed the encounters, investigators said. They operated “on the instructions of their leader, the French national Pierre Robert, arrested in April 2025 in Beauvais [France],” it added.

Four of the accused are said to have acted as “sex trainers” and admitted to carrying out abuse in exchange for money transfers from Robert.

The arrests followed coordinated raids at the suspects’ homes in Dakar and in the city of Kaolack, about 200 km southeast of the capital. Senegalese police said the operation was carried out in cooperation with French authorities.

It was not immediately clear how many children were victimized, and authorities have not released further details on the suspected French national’s role beyond previous arrests by French investigators.

Senegal has strict laws against sexual abuse of children, with prison sentences ranging from five to ten years for offenses involving children under 16. However, Human Rights Watch said in a 2018 report that enforcement mechanisms and investigations are not consistently carried out in a way that brings perpetrators to justice.

Following the latest arrests, the former French colony’s police have pledged to step up efforts to pursue and dismantle criminal groups whose activities “pose real threats to public health.”