Child prostitution: Swiss man targeted by investigation in France

Paris prosecutors have opened an investigation into Meslibertines, the leading French platform for escort and prostitution ads, formerly known as Sexemodel. The site records an average of 430,000 visits a day and hosts more than 45,000 active listings.

Among the ads there reportedly are also hundreds of pages offering services from minors. France's high commissioner for children reported the case to prosecutors and asked for the site to be shut down, prompting the judiciary to open a case. The information was reported by France Inter.

The platform describes itself as a simple ad-publishing service and states it bears no responsibility for any contact or meetings arising from the listings. It also says it applies a zero-tolerance policy toward illegal activity.

The site is reportedly hosted in Switzerland, which complicates the work of French investigators. They have submitted a request for judicial assistance to the Swiss authorities.

The owner, already convicted in 2011

The platform is run by a 47-year-old Swiss national. He was already convicted in France in 2011, receiving a three-year suspended prison sentence for aggravated pimping. At the time, Switzerland did not act on the international arrest warrant issued against him. He also controls other similar platforms.

The head of France's central office for combating human trafficking called the site's stance hypocritical. Speaking to French public radio, he said: “Sanno benissimo che tra le migliaia di annunci, ce ne sono alcuni per i quali si rendono colpevoli di un reato. Ma l'autorità giudiziaria francese non può agire da sola, ci vuole una cooperazione con le autorità svizzere” (They know perfectly well that among the thousands of ads, there are some for which they are guilty of an offence. But French judicial authorities cannot act alone — cooperation with the Swiss authorities is needed).

According to reports, the man behind the platform now lives in Dubai and earns more than 20 million euros a year from the site, which has become an almost unavoidable reference point for many sex workers active in France. In 2025, the online newspaper Mediapart had already published an in-depth investigation into him, describing him as the driving force behind an international online prostitution empire built up over twenty years. His activities reportedly run through a network of front men and shell companies registered mainly in Switzerland and Cyprus.

Child protection associations report that child prostitution is a growing problem in France: at least 20,000 minors are believed to be involved, a figure that has risen twentyfold over the past decade. According to these organisations, exploitation networks mainly target vulnerable young people, sometimes recruiting them directly inside shelters, before frequently moving them around to make them harder to trace.