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French YouTuber Norman Thavaud, who currently has over 12 million followers on his channel, has been arrested over assault allegations.
Trigger Warning: This article contains sensitive content. Readers' discretion is advised.
The comedian was placed under police custody on Monday, December 5, 2022, and will face questioning after allegations of corruption of minors and r*pe were made against him. Investigations were launched by the Paris prosecutor's office to look into the case.
35-year-old Thavaud operates under the channel named Norman fait des vidéos, creating short-form comedy sketches. He is one of France's most popular content creators, amassing over 2.5 billion views in total. He appears to be dating another French personality, Martha Gambet.
Norman Thavaud "encouraged" a 16-year-old girl to send him messages and images of inappropriate nature
Norman Thavaud, a popular French YouTuber, has been taken into custody following preliminary investigations by Paris prosecutors, according to the French daily Libération. He is being questioned under allegations that include corruption of several minors, and the r*pe of young girls and women, some of whom were his fans.
Allegations against him date back to 2018, however, the first complaints against Norman Thavaud were lodged only in 2020.
Allegations claim that the YouTuber "encouraged" a 16-year-old girl to send him messages and images of an inappropriate nature. The accuser is based in Quebec, Canada, and shared screenshots of the alleged conversation between them from her Instagram account. She said that Thavaud used Snapchat to ask her for images when she was still a minor.
She first posted the video on a website called Urbania after filing the complaint in the summer of 2020. She claimed that she was vulnerable and an admirer, qualities that led her to fall for his "game."
She said:
"He had unhealthy little game of emotional attachment. I was young, I admired him, I fell easily into the trap. The virtual relationship we had quickly turned into a flirtation."
She claimed to have continued this virtual relationship with the French personality for about nine months, but what started as innocent flirting escalated into a more daring exchange. In addition, his requests for images grew more "insistent and demanding."
She continued:
"It was from there that it became problematic and he was more and more insistent and demanding. He used the right words at the right times; as soon as I walked away, he caught up at the last moment."
The girl claimed that it took her a very long time to realize that their "relationship" was toxic and problematic. She further addressed the fact that she was smitten by him and believed everything he said as she built the image of trust based on his online personality.
Following her allegations, it was reported that 30 other women and girls approached her alleging they had similar experiences with Norman Thavaud. Along with her, four other girls were questioned in court and it is alleged that all of them could have been r*ped. Two of the girls were minors at the time.
There has been no comment from Thavaud yet.
