Epstein friend found dead in French jail
Modelling agent’s alleged victims ‘devastated’ he will not face justice over claims of rape and grooming
ALLEGED rape victims of a French former modelling agent and friend of the late Jeffrey Epstein have spoken of their disappointment and devastation after he was found dead in his Paris prison cell yesterday.
The death of Jean-Luc Brunel, 76, who is alleged to have helped procure “more than a thousand” women on behalf of Epstein and the convicted British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, has angered those who had hoped to see him tried.
Brunel was found hanging in his cell at la Santé prison at 1am yesterday. He was being held on charges of raping young girls. Wardens said they were unable to resuscitate him after finding his lifeless body during a night patrol.
“On average, there are four to six (patrols). He chose to commit this act between two patrols. First aid couldn’t salvage the situation,” Erwan Saoudi, a prison warden, told Le Parisien.
Police have launched an investigation into the cause of death. His demise echoes that of Epstein, who killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sexually assaulting and trafficking dozens of girls..
Brunel’s apparent suicide comes days after the Duke of York agreed to settle, without admitting liability, a civil lawsuit with Virginia Roberts Giuffre accusing him of sex abuse after they met through Epstein and Maxwell.
Ms Giuffre accused Brunel of procuring more than a thousand women and girls for Epstein to sleep with and he had been in jail since December 2020 on charges of sexual harassment and the rape of minors over 15 years old. She also claimed Brunel attacked her on Epstein’s island in the Caribbean.
She said yesterday: “The suicide of Jean-Luc Brunel, who abused me and countless girls and young women, ends another chapter. I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to face him in a final trial to hold him accountable, but gratified that I was able to testify in person last year to keep him in prison.”
A number of former models had waived their anonymity to make their allegations against Brunel public.
Among them is Dutch model, Thysia Huisman, who was 18 when she first stayed with Brunel, whom she said raped her in 1991. She tweeted: “I am in shock. Was this really suicide? And it feels disappointing. This is a completely different ending without any real justice for his victims.”
Ms Huisman is one of at least four alleged victims represented by AnneClaire Le Jeune, a Paris barrister who said Mr Brunel’s death was a source of “frustration” for her clients.
“They are devastated at having the prospect of his trial and the recognition of their status as victims stolen from them,” she said. “It was highly likely he would be sent to trial. We consider this is an act of cowardice. We haven’t reached the truth regarding the protagonists; they have taken their secrets with them.”
Police first arrested Brunel as he tried to board a flight to Dakar, Senegal. He said he was “going on holiday”. Last June, he was further charged with drugging and raping a 17-year-old girl at her home in the late 1990s after a night out clubbing.
Brunel had also been made an “assisted witness” – one step short of being charged – over accusations of “aggravated people trafficking causing harm to minor victims in view of sexual exploitation”.
His death will put an end to all legal pursuit in the case unless others are indicted. He had denied the claims.
The rape of a minor is punishable by up to 15 years in prison in France, while aggravated sexual harassment comes with a three-year prison sentence.
Brunel, who denied any wrongdoing, was being held in custody until a criminal trial on a date to be fixed.
He was the founder of MC2, the model agency, which prosecutors believe was used as a cover for Epstein’s sex trafficking ring.
Brunel started his career as a model scout, and had worked with celebrities including Jerry Hall, Sharon Stone and Monica Bellucci.