Jean-Luc Brunel, a 74-year-old modelling agent has been detained in Paris for questioning in relation with an investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s circle of enablers, according to French prosecutors. New York-based financier Jeffery Epstein was a convicted sex offender, who is said to have trafficked women, some of them underage to rich and influential individuals in the US.
The list of people Epstein provided girls to allegedly includes current President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton.
Brunel, who was attempting to board a plane to Dakar, Senegal, was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport.
Brunel is suspected of having provided Epstein with underage girls from his modelling agency. Epstein is then said to have coerced these girls into having sexual relations with rich and famous men in his social circle.
According to the prosecutors' office in Paris, Brunel faces several charges including rape, sexual assault of a minor, and trafficking of minors. In 2015, Brunel denied any wrongdoing in a lawsuit against Epstein.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who was abused by Epstein, in a 2016 deposition said she was also abused by Brunel. Giuffre said that Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell had directed her to provide sexual services for Brunel. Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 and is currently in jail. Guiffre also said that Epstein bragged that he had slept with more than 1000 of Burnley’s girls.
Epstein, who was awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking died by suicide in a New York jail in August 2019.
