Jean-Claude Van Damme accused of sex with trafficked women in Cannes
The Belgian martial artist and Hollywood actor is facing a potential criminal investigation from Romanian authorities after a complaint was filed to police on April 2.
Excerpts of a deposition contained in the complaint claim the women were 'given' to Van Damme, 64, at the event in south-east France in 2015.
The trafficking of the girls is said to have been organised by Morel Bolea, a Romanian suspected sex trafficker and former head of a modelling agency.
One woman who attended the event said in a written testimony: 'When we got there, we realised we weren't participating in a film festival event, but rather at the launch of a TV series starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, which was held in a hotel event room.'
She said one of the event's organisers 'took five of his girls from the Fashion TV team and sent them to Van Damme'.
Van Damme's representatives have been contacted for comment.
It is not known if he knew the girls had been trafficked.
Women's whereabouts unknown
The criminal complaint was submitted to the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) in Bucharest, the same organisation prosecuting the misogynist and alleged rapist Andrew Tate.
The current whereabouts of the women and their identities are not known.
Adrian Cuculis, the lawyer who filed the complaint, represents a separate woman allegedly groomed and trafficked by Mr Bolea when she was 15 years old.
Mr Cuculis told The Telegraph: 'They were basically offered to Van Damme … this is the allegation that Jean-Claude Van Damme used the services of one or more exploited girls.
He added: 'They were there for [sic] making sexual intercourse with this guy … if Jean-Claude Van Damme hooked up with them in the club and they went and engaged in six-person intercourse, it's perfectly fine.
'But if somebody comes to you keeping her hand in his hand and says 'OK off you go with him into the room' this means something else.
'It's a deposition stating out very clearly what happened there, and who offered the girls and what are the terms of them, the conditions.'
'Police investigation launched'
Mr Cuculis said police had already begun investigating Van-Damme as part of a wider inquiry into Mr Bolea's trafficking network.
He said: 'The [police] investigation has already been launched since Friday.
'I received a note from the prosecutor's office saying that they merged this file into the file that was opened in Morel Bolea's case and they are conducting an investigation regarding our accusations.'
A spokesman for DIICOT confirmed it had received the complaint on April 2 but made no further comment.
The complaint alleges that Mr Van Damme made 'use of services of an exploited person, an offence stipulated and punishable under Art. 216 of the criminal code, in conjunction with Art. 182 letters a), b), c) of the criminal code.'
Mr Bolea was arrested in 2022 as the main suspect in a case surrounding the exploitation of minors, Romanian news media reported. He has not commented on the allegations.
According to the Romanian prosecutor's office, from 2000 to 2016, he involved girls, including minors, in 'sexual exploitation through psychological pressure' through his organisation.
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