L to R: Christopher Bernard has been charged with indecent assault; a fake Instagram account allegedly set up by Bernard to scam women. Photo via Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and screengrab via Figaro Models
Police in Trinidad and Tobago have warned that women are being abducted and raped on camera as part of a Facebook and Instagram modelling scam—and that footage of the victims may end up in the hands of international buyers.Trinidad and Tobago Newsday reports that as many as 20 girls and women could have been assaulted and filmed. Police investigators suspect that the attacks are driven by the demands of an overseas market for rape videos, with some of the tapes believed to fetch thousands of dollars in the US.
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Details of the alleged crimes came to light after an 18-year-old girl told police officers that she had been raped on 21 February after answering a modeling advertisement on Facebook. The advert purported to be from Malaysian model agency Figaro Models. (The Kuala Lumpur-based agency has since warned its Instagram followers of people attempting to impersonate them on social media.)Police subsequently arrested the alleged suspect, Christopher Bernard, 28, known pseudonymously as Kyle Romiah. Trinidad and Tobago Police Service said in a statement issued yesterday: “A Cunupia man, who set up fake social media profiles to entrap young women interested in a career in modelling, is due to appear before a Tunapuna Magistrate today, charged with one count of indecent assault and one count of previous sexual assault." Bernard has since been released on $300,000 bail.
A police photo of alleged rapist Christopher Bernard
The unnamed victim alleged that Bernard set up camera equipment to film himself raping her. Trinidad and Tobago Newsday reports that police discovered footage of other women being raped when they police raided his home. Police are now appealing for other women who have answered similar modeling adverts to come forward.Police sources told the publication that they believe that the rape videos could form part of a global pornography ring centering around unstaged images of rape and abuse.These shocking and horrific crimes are also happening in other parts of the world. In India’s Uttar Pradesh province, hundreds of rape videos were found for sale following an undercover investigation by the Times of India. “Porn is passé,” one shopkeeper selling the videos told police. “These real-life crimes are the rage.”Trinidad and Tobago police are appealing for other women who have been attacked after answering similar modeling adverts to come forward with their stories.
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