EPSTEIN ASSOCIATE FACES CHARGES OF RAPE, ASSAULT

A former French modeling agent who was a close associate of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has been charged with rape of minors over the age of 15 and sexual harassment, the Paris prosecutor said Saturday.

The associate, Jean-luc Brunel, 74, is also under investigation on suspicion of human trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation, according to the Paris prosecutor, Rémi Heitz.

“He is suspected of having committed rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment on various victims, both minors and adults, and in particular of having organized the transportation and lodging for girls and young women on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein,” the prosecutor said.

Brunel’s lawyer did not respond to interview requests. In a statement in October 2019, his lawyer, Corinne Dreyfusschmidt, said that Brunel was available to answer questions from investigative judges and that he strongly denied the accusations of sexual abuse.

The indictment of Brunel, who has been placed in pretrial detention, is a significant development in a broader inquiry that Paris prosecutors opened in August 2019 to uncover potential offenses committed either in France or against French victims abroad in connection with the Epstein scandal.

French law criminalizes sex between an adult and a minor under the age of 15. A sexual relationship between an adult and a minor over age 15 is legal unless accusations of sexual abuse can be supported by specific circumstances such as the use of coercion.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell last year at age 66. He was awaiting trial on charges of sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of girls and young women at his mansion in Manhattan; his estate in Palm Beach, Fla.; and other locations. More than a decade earlier, he had been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor and was registered as a sex offender.

In 2015, Brunel denied any involvement in the alleged crimes of Epstein.

Brunel was arrested at an airport near Paris on Wednesday. He was under no judicial restrictions at the time and was free to travel.

At least one of Epstein’s accusers has said that Brunel used his position as a modeling scout to procure minors for Epstein, who socialized with politicians, celebrities and Wall Street executives. Epstein owned an apartment in an upscale Parisian neighborhood and traveled regularly to France.