Ribery now facing German investigation in under-age sex probe
By ANIFriday, July 23, 2010
MUNICH - German prosecutors are considering opening an investigation into allegations that French footballer Franck Ribery had sex with an under-age prostitute in Munich.
Ribery has never denied having paid for sex with Zahia Dehar, now 18, but his lawyer has claimed that the player had no idea that she was under-age.
Barbara Stockinger, a spokeswoman for the public prosecutors’ office in Munich, said: “We are looking into whether to begin a formal investigation”.
Stockinger also said that the German prosecutors would await the outcome of the French investigation, and highlighted that he could not be prosecuted for the same crime twice, The Telegraph reports.
Ribery had Dehar flown over from Paris on his 26th birthday in April 2009. He has admitted to having sex with her in a Munich hotel and paying for her flight tickets.
The 27-year-old was questioned by Paris magistrates on Tuesday, and was placed under formal judicial investigation.
His French international teammate Karim Benzema was also detained for questioning and placed under formal judicial investigation over relations with the same teenage call girl. (ANI)
