Two French men were found guilty of aggravated violence on 5 August 2026 in connection with the death of streamer Raphaël Graven, who died during a live broadcast on the Kick platform in August 2025. Safine Hamadi received an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a €5,000 fine, while Owen Cenazandotti received a two-year suspended sentence and a €15,000 fine, according to Reuters and the BBC. A suspended sentence means the person does not actually go to prison unless they break the law again.

Graven, 46, was found dead in Contes, a village north of Nice, in August 2025. Known online as Jean Pormanove, he had more than one million followers across his social media platforms. His death followed what the French newspaper Le Monde described as a 12-day period of abuse that was broadcast live on Kick, an Australia-based streaming platform. A livestream on 18 August 2025 showed Graven lying lifeless on a mattress covered with a duvet. The video was later removed from Kick.

Neither man was charged with manslaughter, which means causing someone's death through reckless or careless behavior without intending to kill. The prosecution determined that the probable causes of death appeared related to Graven's poor health and fragile heart, as the BBC reported. A French prosecutor had previously stated in September 2025 that Graven likely died of medical causes rather than foul play, according to France 24.

The court cleared both men of the charge of abusing Graven's psychological frailty, meaning taking advantage of someone's mental vulnerability. Graven had told police before his death that he agreed to the stunts and humiliation that formed part of his content. Hamadi and Cenazandotti maintained that Graven consented to the abuse and humiliation depicted in his streams.

In addition to the suspended sentences and fines, both men were each banned from posting on Kick for six months.

The case has drawn attention not only to the individuals involved but to the platform that hosted the broadcasts. France announced in August 2025 that it would sue Kick for negligence following Graven's death, as reported by RFI. By January 2026, French prosecutors had requested arrest warrants for managers of the Australian streaming service, according to France 24. Two French streamers were taken into custody that same month. Kick remains under investigation by French authorities.

The key to this case is a specific distinction in French criminal law. The court recognized that violence occurred, that it was broadcast, and that a man died during it. But the link between the abuse and the death was not strong enough for a manslaughter charge. The prosecution's own finding, that Graven's pre-existing heart problems were the probable cause of death, closed off that option. What could still be prosecuted was the violence itself, and the sentences reflect that narrower charge.

The consent defense adds another layer of difficulty. Graven's own statements to police, made before his death, that he agreed to the stunts, were enough to defeat the charge of exploiting his mental vulnerability. This raises hard questions about how far consent can protect people in content that involves ongoing physical mistreatment, especially when the person agreeing is clearly in a vulnerable state. French law, like many European systems, allows consent to block certain charges but does not treat it as absolute, particularly when the harm is serious.

The bigger story may be the investigation into Kick itself. France's decision to pursue negligence claims and arrest warrants against platform managers suggests a desire to hold streaming services responsible for protecting users, beyond simply removing harmful content after it appears. If French authorities move forward with the negligence case, it could set a precedent for holding platforms accountable in places where live content is watched in real time and there is little chance to review it before it goes public. That investigation is still ongoing, and its outcome may matter well beyond this single case.