French Prosecutors Investigate Return of Pelicot Crime Facilitator Website Coco.gg
French prosecutors have initiated an investigation into the re-emergence of websites bearing striking resemblance to Coco.gg, a platform notorious for enabling the crimes of Dominique Pelicot. Pelicot was convicted in 2024 for drugging and raping his wife, Gisèle, over a decade, and for recruiting over 50 men online to participate in her abuse.
Coco.gg, an unmoderated platform, was previously cited in more than 23,000 reports of criminal activity, including child sexual abuse, drug offences, rape, and murder. Its founder, Isaac Steidl, faced charges in January 2025, including possession and distribution of child pornography; he denies these accusations.
Since early April, at least two similarly named websites, with designs nearly identical to the original Coco platform, have become accessible online. While Cocoland.cc appeared to be shut down by 29 April, another Cocoland-named site remained active.
The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed an investigation into Cocoland for "disseminating violent, pornographic, or offensive messages accessible to minors." Julien Zanatta, Steidl's lawyer, stated his client had "nothing to do" with the new websites.
French media reported that journalists were able to access one of the new sites instantly, without registration or verification. Posing as a 13-year-old, journalists reportedly received lewd images and sexually explicit messages from users, even after disclosing the user's age.
Sarah El Haïry, France's high commissioner for childhood, condemned the reappearance as a "collective failure" against child sexual abuse, stressing that such platforms exploit loopholes and target children. She also confirmed filing complaints against two other open chatroom websites.
The original Coco.gg gained notoriety during the Pelicot trial, where dozens of men testified to meeting Pelicot via a chatroom called "Without her knowledge," used for sharing surreptitiously taken photos and videos of women. Forty-nine men received sentences in December, alongside Dominique Pelicot, for their involvement in the abuse of Gisèle Pelicot.
