Report: Man Successfully Breaks Into Disney Park and Publicly Exposes Alleged Sex Offender
A man successfully broke into Disneyland Paris to expose a convicted pedophile last month.
While Disney’s theme parks take extra care to ensure the safety of guests, things can – and do – slip through the cracks on occasion. In the past, we’ve seen guests engage in fights and even try to smuggle weapons into the theme parks, with one visitor to Disney Springs arrested back in 2022 for trying to bring guns into the shopping and dining district.
Perhaps the most unexpected lapse in safety occurred last month at Disneyland Paris, Disney’s French theme park resort. The resort is home to Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park, as well as its own shopping and dining district, Disney Village.
Like other Disney destinations across the globe, Disneyland Paris has been known to host weddings. Expensive though it may be to host a ceremony on Disney property (although perhaps slightly more affordable than you thought), it appeals to a wide range of avid Disney fans.
In June, however, a Disney ‘wedding’ proved to be something much more twisted when a British guest known as Jaskarn “Jacky” Jhaj – who is also a registered UK sex offender – allegedly booked Disneyland Paris for a staged ceremony at Sleeping Beauty Castle under a falsified Latvian identity.
He spent around €130,000, hired an orchestra, rented castle access early in the morning and recruited approximately 200 adults and 100 children as extras for a ‘wedding’ to a 9-year-old ‘bride.’
The ‘bride’ in question appeared on stage in a white dress and high heels, sparking alarm among cast members, who immediately stopped the event and contacted police. The ceremony had been misrepresented to Disneyland as a legitimate wedding.
Arrests, Charges, and Security Concerns
Four people were arrested: Jhaj, the girl’s 41-year-old mother, and two Latvian accomplices (a 55-year-old man hired as “father” and a 24-year-old woman as “sister”). Authorities confirmed the child suffered no abuse, and the mother and older accomplice were released after a medical exam.
Jhaj remains in custody on charges including fraud, identity theft, money laundering, breach of trust, and corruption of a minor. French prosecutors say he used forged documents and a stolen ID to book the park and orchestrate the hoax, allegedly claiming it was a film shoot for social media content.
Security Lapses and Community Response
A former Russian special forces paratrooper known only as Vitalijs has since told examining magistrates how he acted as the whistleblower who halted the faux-wedding (via Daily Mail).
Vitalijs claims that he was offered the equivalent of £550 to play the father of the bride and that he discovered the age of the ‘bride’ involved five hours before the staged ceremony. After quitting, he continued to make his way to Disneyland Paris and allegedly broke in to stop the event.
“I knew I had to do something,” he said. “I sneaked into Disneyland without a pass.”
Vitalijs, who speaks neither French nor English, used his training to infiltrate Disneyland Paris carrying a handwritten note that read: “This is not a real wedding. The girl is nine years old!”
He handed the message to a Disney employee, who immediately halted the event. Police arrived within minutes and arrested multiple suspects, including Jaskarn Jhaj.
At the station, Vitalijs was shown a fake British passport featuring his own photo. He told police he had unknowingly provided the image to a woman in Riga who claimed it was needed for a Disneyland pass. “Of course, I told the police that it wasn’t me and that it wasn’t my passport,” he said.
Jean-Baptiste Bladier, the Meaux prosecutor, has confirmed the child involved – who was from Ukraine – had not suffered “any violence, neither physical nor sexual,” and had “not been forced into playing the bride.”
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Disney magic turned into a dark drama 😳🏰⚠️ — A convicted sex offender sneaks in with a fake ID for a wedding stunt?! Unbelievable breach of safety 🚨👎 #DisneyScandal #SecurityFail