“He is registered on the British sex offenders register"
A British man arrested for staging a “mock wedding” to a nine-year-old girl at Disneyland Paris is revealed to be known paedophile Jacky Jhaj.
London-based Jhaj was detained on June 21 after Disneyland staff grew suspicious of the event, which was set up as a private dawn ceremony.
The event had been booked by Jhaj under a false identity using forged documents.
Jacky Jhaj has been charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and identity theft, according to prosecutors in Meaux, east of Paris.
A statement from prosecutors said: “He is registered on the British sex offenders register and is currently wanted at the national level by the judicial authorities of his country of origin, for failing to comply with the obligations arising from said registration.”
French authorities confirmed Jhaj was known in the UK “for sexual offences against minors” and is considered a fugitive.
In 2016, he was jailed for four years for grooming and sexually assaulting two 15-year-old girls after pretending to be a Hollywood film producer and plying them with alcohol at staged parties.
Prosecutors said he has a “weird track record of elaborate and bad taste hoaxes”.
In recent years, he orchestrated bizarre events in London, including a fake funeral at the London Oratory in Knightsbridge, complete with an empty coffin and hired mourners, and a red carpet “film shoot” involving 90 children and dozens of teenage extras in the West End.
In 2024, he was filmed naked in Silvertown, east London, blowing up a fake police van for a project he dubbed “Project Dover”.
Another van, branded with fake BBC World logos, was set on fire during the same incident.
Despite his criminal history, Disneyland Paris approved the event booking, reportedly costing around £115,000. The booking was made under the name of a Latvian national using false documents.
A Meaux prosecuting spokesman said: “The organiser assumed the identity of a Latvian national and used false documents to secure the conclusion of the contract for the privatisation of the park.”
The event was to be broadcast live on social media and involved around 100 guests, with extras hired online to play family members.
The Disneyland ceremony was shut down by staff on the day after it became clear that the bride was a child.
A source from the theme park said: “The event was soon shut down and guests were stopped from entering the premises.”
A Disneyland source added:
“Senior management now claims to have been deceived.”
French prosecutors confirmed that the nine-year-old girl underwent a medical examination and “had not suffered any violence”.
Three others were also arrested in connection with the event: the child’s 41-year-old Ukrainian mother, a 24-year-old Latvian woman posing as the bride’s sister, and a 55-year-old Latvian man who also took part in the mock ceremony.
A source who was recruited to act as a guest said:
“We all thought we were going to attend a wedding. Everyone was stunned when we realised what was really going on.
“Disneyland acted extremely professionally – they cancelled everything as soon as they realised the bride was a child. It was all very shocking.”
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