Disneyland paedophile ‘took nine-year-old bride's mother on holiday'

Telegraph

5 days ago

A convicted British paedophile allegedly took the nine-year-old girl he was due to 'marry' in Disneyland Paris on holiday with her mother the year before their fake ceremony.
Jacky Jhaj, 39, who was described in a previous court case as a 'dangerous sexual predator', was arrested at the fake wedding, which took place at dawn on June 21 at the resort for a reported cost of €130,000 (£111,140).
An actor hired to play the 'father' of the 'bride' told The Telegraph that Jhaj had known the girl and her mother for a year and that the three of them had gone on holiday together.
'This Ukrainian woman [the mother] told me that she had known this Jacky for a year. A year. He paid her money and helped her family,' said Vitalijs, 54, who declined to give his surname for 'security reasons'.
'They went somewhere together to relax, the three of them. I think he won her over with gifts. And if, as the girl's mother told me at the airport, they were on holiday together, the three of them,' he added.
Police were called to the theme park after staff were alerted to the fact the 'bride', a Ukrainian national wearing a wedding dress and reportedly tottering on high heels, was a young child.
Jhaj, who rented the resort outside of its opening hours for the fake wedding, was remanded in custody and charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and identity theft.
He has also been placed under assisted witness status for corruption of a minor. The child and her 41-year-old mother were released without charge.
'Father of bride' says he foiled plot
Vitalijs, who told The Telegraph he was a former Soviet special forces sergeant, claimed he had foiled the plot.
'I know how to recognise threats and act in critical situations. I have special military training. This time, I couldn't stay silent,' he said, adding that he had been 'in a separate special forces unit of the GRU airborne troops' just before the fall of the Soviet Union.
He said Jhaj told him the 'bride' would be played by the nine-year-old's mother, who he met a month before at a casting for the event in Brno, in the Czech Republic.
Vitalijs said: 'I was paid €150 for the casting. They promised to pay €500 for one hour of filming in Paris,' he said. Previous reports had suggested he had been offered a far higher sum.
He was only informed that the 'bride' was in fact the child and not the mother 'five hours before the ceremony', when he pulled out and was banned from attending by Jhaj.
However, he went to Disneyland to inform management of the involvement of a minor.
'I knew I had to act. I snuck into Disneyland without a pass. One of the employees accompanied me. I had a handwritten note with me that said: 'This is not a real wedding. The girl is nine years old!'
'I approached the building....and could see that the ceremony was taking place on the second floor.
'I entered the first floor and saw… a Disneyland employee who had been present at the online meeting. I immediately handed her the note. The [fake] wedding was stopped immediately.'
Vitalijs said when he went to the police station, officers showed him a British passport with his photo on it.
'I found out that my passport had been forged. I only remember the first name, Mikhail. I don't remember the surname. 'I remembered that this girl in Riga had asked me for a passport photo 'for a pass to Disneyland',' he said, referring to another event organiser.
'Of course, I [told the police] that it wasn't me and that it wasn't my passport.'
After the foiled event, he said he met the mother and the child at the police station when all three were released without charge.
They travelled to the airport together, where she told him she had known Jhaj for a year and that she had been on holiday with him.
Vitalijs said that after his service in Soviet special forces, he went on to train in London to become an 'international bodyguard' and was employed to protect several French film stars, including Alain Delon and Catherine Deneuve.