Jean-Luc Brunel, a French modeling agent and close ally and alleged pimp of the late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, is arrested in Paris after trying to embark on a flight to Dakar in Senegal. According to Paris prosecutors, he was arrested for rape, sexual assault on minors, sexual harassment, criminal conspiracy and human trafficking, according to The Parisian diary.
Brunel, who has been accused in the United States of raping and looking for young girls by Epstein, has not been seen since Epstein’s death in Manhattan Prison in August 2019, but has been in France. Already in August, Party of Paris reported that he was last seen in public in July 2019 at a party at the Paris Country Club, an exclusive establishment for members outside the French capital. According to reports, Brunel also planned to write a summary in hopes of exonerating himself, but the project was abandoned. He and his lawyer even reached out to a crisis communications expert at one point, but the expert turned down the contract.
Brunel’s name appeared more than 15 times in Epstein’s private jet flight records and he visited Epstein about 70 times when the financier was in Florida jail for looking for a minor girl for prostitution.
In the message logs of Epstein’s Palm Beach house – where Brunel was a frequent guest, according to Epstein employees – the French agent left cryptic messages that appeared to refer to young girls. In a note, Brunel reported that “he only made a good one, 18 years old,” who told him “I love Jeffrey.” In another message to Epstein, Brunel stressed that “she has a teacher to teach her to speak Russian … She is 2×8 years old and not blonde. The lessons are free and today you can get the first position if you call “.
“He had lost his faith and thought he was protected and nothing would happen, but he finally faces charges and these are really serious accusations … He was crying but they were tears of joy. ”
– Thysia Huisman, a former Dutch model who accused Brunel of drugging and raping her
In August 2019, French prosecutors began an investigation into Brunel, who founded Karin Models, and MC2 Model Management, which led to his arrest on Wednesday.
“It’s amazing. I didn’t expect it all,” Thysia Huisman, a former Dutch model who accused Brunel of drugging and raping her when she was 18, told The Daily Beast. Huisman reported Brunel to French police in September 2019 after Epstein’s arrest.
“Brunel raped me in 1991. He drugged and raped me and I never showed up because I was embarrassed,” he said. “After Epstein’s arrest, I felt I had to introduce myself.”
After Epstein was arrested and Brunel became a person of interest, Huisman denounced him even though the case had passed the prescriptions. “But I reported it in the hope that other women would show up, and then another 11 women showed up, but they all exceeded the statute of limitations.”
Frustrated, Huisman went to French authorities earlier this year. “I called the French police this year to ask why no one works there and why they walk around Paris as if nothing happened, but the police said you have to be patient, let’s try to keep a case.” , He said, adding that he felt Brunel was taken off and on his way to Dakar because Senegal does not have an extradition treaty with France.
“He had lost faith and thought he was protected and nothing would happen, but he eventually faces charges and they are very serious charges,” he said. “I was crying but they were tears of joy. Someone has to pinch me, it’s really overwhelming. We need to see what happens next. If there is a trial, I will go 100% and, if they need my testimony, of course, I will testify. I didn’t show up for anything. “
Huismann’s book Close-up details about Brunel’s meeting in Paris when she was 18 and Brunel invited her to Paris. “I met Epstein through Brunel,” he said. “I stayed at Brunel’s house in Paris and at night there were parties with older business friends and young and very young models, and one night he drank me and told me we had to celebrate the start of my career to Paris “.
Fifteen minutes later, he said he knew something was wrong. “I started to feel weird, heavy and nauseous, and not me, and then he took me to his room and I couldn’t even fight him and he raped me,” he told The Daily Beast. “I woke up the next day and all I thought about was that I had to run away from home and take the first train from Paris to Brussels and never return to Paris until last year when I returned to talk to the police and they took it very seriously ”.
Huismann spent four and a half hours explaining what happened to the Paris police. “I had to analyze every detail and relive it, which was very heavy,” he said. “During all these years I had tried to forget, but in your memory you have many details, especially of that night.”
Lisa Bloom, who represents Epstein’s victims, told The Daily Beast that “one of the seven victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual assault I represent has alleged in our litigation that Jean-Luc Brunel trafficked her in Epstein … This took place in 2009, after Epstein’s. criminal conviction. We are very pleased that Mr. Brunel has finally been brought to justice. “
Brunel said through a lawyer last year that he would answer questions about his relationship with Epstein. His lawyers denied that he was “on the run” and denied all allegations of wrongdoing. The DOJ officially declined to comment on whether they were independently investigating Brunel in its ongoing investigation against Epstein and his associates in the U.S.
Lawyer David Boies, whose firm has represented Epstein’s victims, noted: “Jeffrey Epstein did not act alone. Today’s arrest of Jean Luc Brunel is another important step in bringing justice to justice. the men and women who took part in Epstein’s international sex trafficking ring. This could not have happened without the courage and commitment of Epstein’s survivors, and the dedication of prosecutors around the world. “
Brunel has also denied any commercial relationship with Epstein, who was supposedly the silent “E” of MC2 (referring to the theory of relativity). But Brunel did admit in court documents that the wealthy sex offender extended a $ 1 million line of credit to him to invest in a new business with Elite Models, registered with the management of Epstein’s investment firm. in New York. The Justice Department officially declined to comment on Brunel’s arrest and his ongoing Epstein investigation.
“The victims have long waited for the arrest of Jean-Luc Brunel,” said Anne-Claire Lejeune, a lawyer representing several of Brunel’s alleged victims. “They welcome this custody with relief and confidence in the legal consequences that will be given. Their word finally takes on meaning.”
With reports from Erin Zaleski, Pilar Melendez and Spencer Ackerman.