An Afghan political refugee was sentenced on Tuesday by the criminal court of Metz to four years in prison for pimping a minor and removing young girls from a child welfare home (ASE) as part of a wider child prostitution ring.
Farhad Kamawal, 36, was also convicted of plying the girls with alcohol and drugs.
The case came to light in 2021 after several underage girls placed in an ASE home began frequently disappearing overnight. An alert educator reported suspicions of a prostitution network. She described a man — later identified as Kamawal — who loitered near the home and allegedly brought girls to his apartment in Woippy, a suburb of Metz, where he provided them with alcohol and drugs before arranging paid sexual encounters.
As reported by Le Figaro, one of the girls, who became a civil party in the case, told investigators that Kamawal lured them in with substances and then “locked them in his den to prostitute them.” At one point, she had been in a relationship with the defendant and was described as encouraging other minors in the home to engage in prostitution.
At trial, Kamawal denied all charges, claiming he saw the girls “like little sisters” and insisting the accusations were fabricated. His lawyer, Arnaud Blanc, pleaded for acquittal, arguing that the majority of the testimonies were inconsistent and that the investigation had “dragged on.”
However, the court found sufficient evidence to convict him for exploiting at least one minor. While he was acquitted of pimping a second girl — due to conflicting timelines — he was found guilty of organizing paid sex involving another.
Prosecutor Lauréline Guillot had sought a five-year sentence, two years suspended.
The lawyer for one of the victims, Laura Cassaro, told the court that Kamawal deliberately targeted vulnerable girls, saying he “knew perfectly well what he was doing: taming these young minors, wanting to be benevolent at the beginning,” but ultimately “sexually exploiting” them. She added that her client was looking to the court for protection and justice.
To date, authorities have identified 34 minors involved in prostitution in the Moselle department, highlighting growing concerns over child exploitation networks in the region.
It is not known whether the defendant will be subject to deportation proceedings following his release.
