In follow-up to the case of the gang using the "TikTok" app for the sexual harassment of minors, Judge Jouel Abu Haidar, who oversees juvenile cases, has tasked the Cyber Crime Bureau with deleting several accounts on "TikTok" and one on "Instagram." It has been revealed that the owners of these accounts are posting videos with minors, mocking the experiences of the victims, according to "lbci."
This is done by having certain individuals, filmed by hairstylists, ask the minors, "Are you drinking anything?" and then the minors act out scenes as if they are escaping from the premises. This situation poses significant harm to the victims, who likely see these videos, adding to their psychological pain even further.
Judge Abu Haidar has also instructed the Cyber Crime Bureau to investigate a phone number associated with a forged internal security image containing pictures of the children who have been abused. Moreover, the security forces in Lebanon are tracking members of an organized gang suspected of luring minors online, then sexually assaulting and blackmailing them. Six out of approximately thirty suspects have been arrested, including influencers on the TikTok app.
A judicial source stated that at least 28 individuals have been identified as part of this multi-headed gang, which has recruited professional teenagers from outside Lebanon to lure children via TikTok. The source added that the victims "were raped after being drugged with substances placed in drinks offered to them, and were forced to use drugs and subsequently promote them under the threat of being blackmailed with recorded videos."
An investigative security source explained that "six victims have provided statements so far, and their ages do not exceed 16 years." It was noted that they were lured in various ways, such as through offers of gifts from clothing stores, being misled into filming advertisements, or through fake accounts on social media. According to the security source, after luring the children, the perpetrators "would rape them, film the act, and then force them to watch the recordings, blackmailing them with the threat of publishing the footage if they spoke about what happened to them."
The seriousness of this issue lies in the fact, according to the security source, that "the incidents of rape and harassment involving minors are not isolated incidents but part of an organized operation among gang members who facilitate each other and exchange victims."
