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Home / World

12-year-old French triplets allegedly flown to Epstein as a 'birthday present'

NZ Herald
19 Aug, 2019 08:45 PM3 mins to read

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An indictment claims Jeffrey Epstein knew girls he abused were as young as 14. Video / CBS This Morning

Sickening details of a "birthday present" given to paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein have been alleged in unsealed court documents.

The accusations were made by Virginia Roberts Giuffre in a civil suit filed by the Miami US attorney's office in 2015.

The suit was an effort to reverse a plea bargain Epstein received in 2008, where he served 13 months in prison after pleading guilty to having sex with a minor.

Giuffre said that three 12-year-old French girls, believed to be sisters, were a sick "birthday present" from Epstein's friend Jean-Luc Brunel, a French model scout who has appeared on the hit reality show series Next Top Model.

The Daily Mail reports that Giuffre said: "Jeffrey bragged after he met them that they were 12-year-olds and flown over from France because they're really poor over there, and their parents needed the money or whatever the case is and they were absolutely free to stay and flew out."

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"He was so excited about the entire event, replayed over and over again over the next course of weeks how cute they were and how you could tell they were really young," she said.

"'Laughing the whole way through, Jeffrey thought it was absolutely brilliant how easily money seduced all walks of life, nothing or no one that couldn't be bought."

Brunel allegedly acquired illegitimate visas for underage girls from around the world and delivered them to Epstein.

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"Jeffrey and Brunel would charge them for rent, forcing them to work for them selling their bodies for money, nude pictures, and even pornography," Giuffre said in the suit.

"These were what seemed like really nice people with not so nice intentions setting an impression of how the dignified wealthy play and behind closed doors they had as much civilised manners as a barbaric chimpanzee in heat.

"Giving a girl a step up in finances by teaching them their only worth is what lay between their legs, us girls all were the same in the end, regardless of what country we come from, what language we spoke or our cultural differences, we were all being used for one thing alone, our youthful looks and beautiful bodies."

Jean-Luc Brunel seen on Australia's Next Top Model in 2008. Photo / Supplied
Jean-Luc Brunel seen on Australia's Next Top Model in 2008. Photo / Supplied

Brunel's career dates to 1978, when he has says he founded Karin Models, a prominent Paris agency that he left more than a decade ago to start a new firm. The French online publication Mediapart recently called Brunel "an aging playboy . . . known in Paris for his love of partying, his luxury cars and his designer pants".

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Brunel has traveled the world looking for beautiful girls, living at times in Paris, New York and Miami Beach, records show. He has said he "discovered" top models such as Christy Turlington and Milla Jovovich - claims their representatives denied.

Epstein died on August 10 at high-security jail in New York, with the Chief New York medical examiner ruling that Epstein had taken his own life in prison.

US Attorney-General William Barr has confirmed that the death of Epstein doesn't relinquish his alleged accomplices from scrutiny.

"This case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein. Any co-conspirators should not rest easy," he said.

-Additional reporting, Washington Post

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