Greek police have arrested a man accused of systematically abusing mentally handicapped people on videos live-streamed for paying customers on social media.
The 35-year-old suspect was arrested in Aegaleo suburb of Piraeus on tuesday afternoon.
He faces charges of human trafficking and causing bodily harm to vulnerable people, the police statement said.
The abuse included “constant swearing, bodily harm and sexual acts, which spectators watching the live-streaming requested, and had paid for.”
Police said two people found in the suspect’s home, who had been allegedly subjected to live-streamed abuse early Tuesday, were placed in care.
Speaking to media two of his victims said that his followers would pay 200 euros order a “challenge” and to watch the abuse.
“There were cases where some of his thousands of followers, the haters, whom he called his ‘army’, paid up to 200 euros to see him beat disabled people,” one of the victims said.
“He beat me badly, spat on me, punched me all over my body,” the victim told ANT1 TV and added that girls aged 15-17 were also sexually abused.
“He used to take a lot of money, he kept most of it and he gave us crumbs. He owes us a lot of money,” the victim said.
The price list would start with 10 euros for one slap, the second victim said.
The 35-year-old man has been active with his sick live streaming on social media platforms, mainly youtube and tiktok, since one year and has thousands of followers.
A similar case was uncovered and at least one man was arrested in western Athens in November 2023. Indicative of the extent of the abuse is the fact that the investigation at the time uncovered 554 horror videos which were being watched by 22,000 sick subscribers paying up to €150 to watch the victims suffer.
