A former Russian special forces paratrooper today emerged as the whistleblower who prevented a notorious British paedophile ‘marrying’ a nine-year-old girl at Disneyland Paris.
The 54-year-old Latvian, who only uses his first name of Vitalijs for security reasons, helped get Londoner Jacky Jhaj, 39, arrested a week ago last Saturday.
Jhaj – who is on a sex offenders register in the UK following criminal convictions – remains in custody in France after being charged with a series of criminal offences.
All are connected with the bizarre £111,000 ceremony at Disneyland, which involved a schoolgirl from Ukraine who was meant to act as his ‘bride’.
On Wednesday, Vitalijs said he had been offered the equivalent of £550 to play ‘the father of the bride’.
He assumed he was giving away the 41-year-old mother, but when he realised the betrothed was in fact her little girl, he exploded with anger.
Vitalijs, who served as a paratrooper in the Red Army before the collapse of the old Soviet Union, only found out about the child’s role ‘five hours before the ceremony’ and immediately quit, he said.
Despite Jhaj telling him to stay away, he travelled to Disneyland to alert management about the involvement of the minor.
‘I knew I had to do something,’ he said. ‘I sneaked into Disneyland without a pass.’
Vitalijs, who does not speak French or English, used his special forces training to get into the theme park – the most popular in Europe – and carried a note with him.
It read: ‘This is not a real wedding. The girl is nine years old!’
Vitalijs said he approached the wedding stage, and handed the message to a Disney employee, who ensured the ‘wedding was stopped immediately.’
Police arrived within minutes, and a number of suspects including Jhaj were arrested and taken into custody.
Vitalijs was driven to a police station, where he was shown a fake British passport with his photo on it.
Vitalijs said: ‘I found out that my passport had been forged. I only remember the first name, Mikhail. I don’t remember the surname.
‘I remembered that a woman in Riga [Latvia] had asked me for a passport photo for a pass to Disneyland.
‘Of course, I told the police that it wasn’t me and that it wasn’t my passport.’
Vitalijs was released without charge, as were the Ukrainian mother and child.
Vitalijs had got to know the pair after meeting them at a casting session for the Disneyland stunt in the Czech Republic in May.
She told him she had known Jhaj for a year, and even gone on holiday with him, while also accepting cash from him.
Jhaj has since claimed: ‘I’m just a simple actor who took part in a film shoot’.
Jhaj made the comment to examining magistrates in Meaux, east of the capital city, after his arrest.
His lawyer, Jean-Christophe Ramadier, said Jhaj was solely placed in ‘provisional custody’ because ‘he had no guarantee of legal representation in France, where he has no address.’
He was guilty of sexual activity with two 15-year-olds in Britain in 2016.
Jean-Baptiste Bladier, the Meaux prosecutor, confirmed the Ukrainian child had not suffered ‘any violence, neither physical nor sexual,’ and had ‘not been forced into playing the bride.’
Mr Bladier said Jhaj ‘played the role of the groom after having been professionally made up to display a face completely different from his own.’
An unidentified 24-year-old Lativian woman is also being held in connection with the stunt.
The investigation into the fake wedding continues.
