Brit, 22, arrested at Disneyland Paris after 'trying to marry Ukrainian girl, 9'
Disneyland Paris cast members alerted the police after the 22-year-old man was seen with a child, dressed in four-inch heels taped to her feet and accompanied by her Ukranian mother
A British man has been arrested at Disneyland Paris for trying to marry a nine-year-old girl in a bizarre private event.
Disney cast members alerted the police after the 22-year-old man was seen with a child, dressed in four-inch heels taped to her feet and accompanied by her Ukranian mother, at private function held at 5am on Saturday, before the French theme park was open to the public.
The ceremony was due to take place at dawn in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at the end of Main Street, USA and had been hired out of for a wedding, with organisers failing to tell Disney what was planned.
Disneyland Paris was reportedly deceived about the nature of the event, with the organiser assuming the "identity of a Latvian national" and using "false documents to secure the contract for privatising the park", BFM TV in France reports.
It is reported that guests' were recruited online via adverts seeking 200 adults and 100 children aged between five and 15 to play the guests at a 'rehearsal' for a wedding in Disneyland.
Video obtained by BFM showed around 100 seated guests awaiting the ceremony as a female violin trio played at dawn before a stage strewn with flowers. The event reportedly cost around £110,000.
"Four people were arrested and questioned: the groom, who was believed to be the organiser of the event and is presumed to be British, aged 22; the mother of the child, a 41-year-old Ukrainian woman; and two Latvian nationals aged 55 and 24," a statement from the French prosecutor's office in the nearby town of Meaux said.
The 55-year-old Latvian man claimed he was recruited to play the role of the bride's father for 12,000 euros but discovered last minute she was nine years old, local news reports.
Disneyland Paris told French newspaper Le Parisien the event was immediately shut down by its team and that guests were stopped from entering the premises.
Circumstances around the wedding remain unclear, as to whether it was a stunt or a real ceremony. A medical examination of the young girl found she had not suffered any violence, the prosecutor's office said.
A police source said the groom has claimed to be the director of a production company and they were shooting a video.
An updated statement from the prosecutors office said: "So it wasn't a wedding, but a staged wedding filmed with around a hundred extras. They privatised Disneyland Paris, pretending it was a real wedding."
Two suspects have been charged with 'fraud and breach of trust' against Disneyland Paris.
One wedding guest told the Le Parisien: "We all thought we were going to attend a wedding... Everyone was stunned, no one expected it. Disneyland did things very well.
"They canceled everything as soon as they realised the bride was a child. We were shocked to see that."
Another extra, named Yeleen, who attended the ceremony with her daughter, said: "I saw a little girl dressed in white. I saw her hair prepared with curls and a lady picking her up in her arms.
"At that moment, I was shocked. I realised when I saw the child. It was atrocious."
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