A Gabonese taekwondo trainer, arrested at the end of December by the police, was indicted for “pedophilia” and “sexual abuse“a judicial source told AFP on Wednesday.
Martin Avera, known in Gabon under the pseudonym “Maître Chaka”, was “indicted by the public prosecutor of Libreville for pedophilia and sexual abuse and placed under arrest warrant“, added the judicial source close to the file.
Romain Molina, the French journalist behind the revelations on the facts of pedophilia affecting Gabonese sport, told AFP at the end of December to have “received testimonies from at least ten families, most of which concern children aged 10 to 14” who have been “sexually assaulted” “by force since the 90s“.
In recent weeks, three football coaches have been arrested and indicted in Gabon on suspicion of pedophilia.
Patrick Assoumou Eyi, former Gabonese football coach of the national under-17 team, is accused of alleged sexual assault of hundreds of children. He was arrested by the Gabonese authorities on December 20 and charged with “rapes of minors“.
Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba had raised a case “very serious and unacceptable”.
Two other club coaches, Orphée Mickala and Triphel Mabicka, were also indicted for the same reasons. The three coaches face 30 years of criminal imprisonment.
Fifa announced on Tuesday that it had opened an investigation following the allegations of alleged sexual assault of hundreds of children.
