A former model has accused a modelling agent close to the US sex
crimes suspect Jeffrey Epstein of raping her in 1990, as France
pursues its own investigation into alleged offences on its
territory.
In a letter sent to Paris Prosecutor Remi Heitz seen by AFP on
Saturday, a 46-year-old Dutch woman says Jean-Luc Brunel drugged
and raped her at his Paris apartment in the early 1990s, shortly
after she turned 18.
French prosecutors opened an enquiry last month into suspected
sex trafficking and alleged cases of rape and sexual abuse of
women, including minors.
Brunel has emerged as a key figure in the scandal surrounding
the US billionaire, who committed suicide in a New York jail last
month.
Brunel has been accused in court documents of rape and of
procuring young girls for Epstein, charges he has denied in the
past.
But since Epstein’s arrest in July — just as he returned from a
trip to Paris — Brunel, formerly a high-power model scout, has not
been heard from publicly.
In her letter, the former Dutch model said several girls lived
in Brunel’s apartment near the Champs-Elysees, where every day
“rich businessmen were accompanied by very young girls.”
“The events are beyond the statute of limitations, and my client
knows this will not lead to charges against Mr Brunel,” the woman’s
lawyer, Anne-Claire Le Jeune, told AFP.
“But she wanted to testify anyway, to help the inquiry move
forward,” she said.
It is also investigating claims that Epstein and others
participated for years in a vast child sex-trafficking ring.
A French advocacy group for child sex abuse victims, Innocence
En Danger (Innocence at Risk), has said 10 people had offered
witness statements alleging sex crimes committed against minors in
France.
According to the Parisian newspaper, Paris police last week
questioned two other women who said they had been sexually
assaulted by Brunel. These alleged offences happened too long ago
for prosecution.
Four years ago, Brunel was accused in a civil lawsuit of rape
and procuring young girls for the US financier.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who filed the suit, accused Epstein of
using her as a “sex slave”. She said she had been forced to have
sex with well-known politicians and businessmen, including
Brunel.
She also alleged that Brunel would bring girls as young as 12 to
the United States and pass them on to his friends, including
Epstein. Brunel fiercely denied the allegations.
(AFP)
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