French YouTuber Norman Thavaud, who has almost 12 million subscribers on the video-sharing platform, has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting minors, according to local reports.
Thavaud, 35, was taken into custody on Monday following a preliminary investigation by prosecutors in Paris, per French newspaper Libération.
The Norman Makes Videos star is reportedly being questioned under allegations that include the corruption of minors and rape involving "several" teenage girls and young women.
Libération reported that the prosecutor's office in the French capital confirmed that the comedian and social media star was in custody.
In a statement, authorities shared that Thavaud was taken into custody "as part of a preliminary investigation entrusted to the brigade for the protection of minors. He is currently being questioned about acts of corruption of minors and rape, involving several young women."
The investigation into the allegations against Thavaud is reported to have started in January, and concerns six complainants. According to Libération, five of the complainants have accused Thavaud of rape, with two of them being minors.
Thavaud's arrest comes after he was accused of sexual misconduct by young women in social media posts over alleged incidents dating back to 2018, per Libération.
One of his accusers, who is based in Quebec, Canada, shared screenshots on Instagram of alleged communication with Thavaud, purporting to show him requesting photos and videos of her over Snapchat when she was aged 16.
After filing a complaint in the summer of 2020, she alleged in a video posted on the website Urbania that Thavaud had an "unhealthy little game of emotional attachment. I was young, I admired him, I fell easily into the trap."
"The virtual relationship we had quickly turned into a flirtation," she was quoted as saying. "Very soon after our first exchanges, he started complimenting me. Little by little, the photos we were sending each other were more and more daring.
"It was from there that it became problematic and he was more and more insistent and demanding. He used the right words at the right times; as soon as I walked away, he caught up at the last moment."
The accuser, who said that she and Thavaud had communicated virtually for 9 months, added that she went on to realize that her relationship with him "was not healthy or normal. But it took me a while to realize that it was problematic as a relationship.
"I trusted Norman at the time. I believe that the relationship of trust that is created, even before you speak with your favorite YouTuber, is already there because you see him at home in his videos, you feel like you know him, and that he's a good person. I think that's why I trusted him almost blindly. I thought I knew who he was and I realized that I was wrong.
The accuser said that she had been contacted by approximately 30 other women who alleged that they had had similar experiences with the YouTuber.
Newsweek has reached out to a representative of Thavaud for comment.
Thavaud, who is known to fans by just his first name, is a relative YouTube veteran, with his posts on the platform dating back more than a decade. In total, his collection of videos has been viewed more than 2.5 billion times.
Update 12/5/22, 10:35 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add extra information.
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Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
