Paris:

A French court sentenced a graphic artist who worked on hit animated films for Pixar and Disney to 25 years in prison for ordering the live-streamed rapes of teenage girls in the Philippines.

A Paris court found Bouhalem Bouchiba guilty late Thursday of complicity in the rape of hundreds of girls, human trafficking and viewing child pornography on the Internet.

Bouchiba, 59, confessed to the charges during the four-day trial.

“I am aware of everything I have done. I ask for forgiveness from the victims,” ​​he said in court.

Bouchiba has worked for animation studios Pixar and Disney, contributing to blockbusters such as the 2004 hit “The Incredibles” and the 2007 release “Ratatouille.”

“On the one hand, there is a graphic artist who makes children happy,” state prosecutor Philippe Courroye said.

“Bouhalem Bouchiba, on the other hand, was a pedophile filmmaker who staged his own horror movies.”

He was convicted of paying women to rape and sexually assault girls, aged 5 to 10, on camera while he watched and gave instructions live in the Philippines between 2012 and 2021.

In his statement, Bouchiba admitted that the violence was akin to “torture”.

The cost of each show ranged from 50 to 100 euros ($54-$108), with the total amount Bouchiba spent on performances coming to just over 50,000 euros.

Police became interested in Bouchiba after Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, sent a warning to the Philippines about suspicious money transfers.

Bouchiba, who was living in the United States at the time, was arrested at San Francisco airport on October 4, 2021 and extradited to France.

It was stated that the suspect was already known to the police and was convicted of sexually abusing his stepdaughter in 2009.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)