---
category: Belgium Scandals
summary: Jean Manuel Vuillaume was a Belgian pornographer who headed Toro Bravo, a
  child pornography production company based in Bogota, Colombia.
tags:
- Person
- Belgium
---

Jean Manuel Vuillaume was a Belgian pornographer who headed [Toro Bravo](/organizations/toro-bravo/), a child pornography production company based in [Bogota, Colombia](/places/bogota/). In 1995 it was discovered that [Michel Caignet](/people/michel-caignet/) and two of his associates, Philippe Desnous (using the alias "Bernard Alapetite") and Vuillaume, were producing films in [Colombia](/places/colombia/) distributed through [Toro Bravo](/organizations/toro-bravo/) showing very young children gagged, tortured, and raped. [Caignet](/people/michel-caignet/) claimed the films had been made in [Colombia](/places/colombia/) using boys hired by [Toro Bravo](/organizations/toro-bravo/), which was headed by Vuillaume. The films were shot in Vuillaume's house in [Bogota](/places/bogota/) and then brought to France and duplicated for sale by mail order.[^1]

Vuillaume was arrested at Roissy airport in 1995. He denied all connections with [Toro Bravo](/organizations/toro-bravo/), but prosecutors claimed 38 pornography videos, sadomasochistic material, and a child-sized toreador costume seen in one of the films were found in his house in [Bogota](/places/bogota/). A prior investigation into [Caignet](/people/michel-caignet/) and his [Toro Bravo](/organizations/toro-bravo/) associates in 1989 led to the arrest of [Nicolas Glencross](/people/nicolas-glencross/), a British-born French priest. The Desnous/Alapetite alias was identified during the broader investigation into the network. The discovery of [Toro Bravo](/organizations/toro-bravo/)'s operations led to the large-scale ADO 71 raids across France in 1996 and 1997, which resulted in multiple suicides among those arrested or questioned.[^1]

[^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). *Eye of the Chickenhawk*. United States: Thehotstar.