EXCLUSIVE: Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre provided key evidence to French police to secure arrest of late pedophile’s model agent friend Jean-Luc Brunel, charged with multiple counts of rape
- Virginia Roberts Giuffre is the key witness in the prosecution of Jean-Luc Brunel, 75, who was arrested in December in Paris
- The model agent was charged with multiple rapes of Giuffre and a separate case of sexual harassment against an unidentified complainant
- Roberts claims she was also forced to have sex with Prince Andrew
- It followed dozens of women saying Brunel abused them while running an underage sex ring with Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in 2019
- Almost all of the accusations leveled against Brunel range from the 1970s to 90s, meaning they fall outside the 20-year limit for prosecuting sex crimes in France
- Brunel was considered ‘untouchable’ by police who nicknamed him ‘The Ghost’ as he carried on living in Paris and frequently traveling abroad
- But Giuffre came forward and claimed she was raped by Brunel ‘in the early 2000s… this was a considerable breakthrough for the enquiry,’ a source said
- It meant that the alleged crime was well within the statute of limitations, and therefore prosecutable
Jeffery Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre has provided enough evidence to French officials for the late pedophile’s model agent friend Jean-Luc Brunel to be charged with multiple rapes, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Virginia Giuffre, 37, is now the key witness in the prosecution of Brunel, 75, after claiming that both him and Prince Andrew, 60, used her as their ‘sex slave’.
The two men vehemently deny any wrongdoing, but in December Brunel was remanded in custody in Paris after being charged with multiple rapes of Giuffre and a separate case of sexual harassment against an unidentified complainant.
It followed dozens of women saying Brunel abused them while running an underage sex ring with Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in 2019.
Almost all of the accusations leveled against Brunel are from the 1970s, 80s and 90s, meaning they fall outside the 20-year limit for prosecuting sex crimes in France.
This meant that Brunel was considered ‘untouchable’ by police who nicknamed him ‘The Ghost’ as he carried on living and working in the French capital, while frequently traveling abroad on scouting assignments and holidays.
But in November Giuffre responded to an online English language appeal by French magistrates for alleged victims to come forward.
Jeffery Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre has provided enough evidence to French officials for the late pedophile’s model agent friend Jean-Luc Brunel (pictured) to be charged with multiple rapes, DailyMail.com can reveal
Virginia Giuffre, 37, (pictured) is now the key witness in the prosecution of Brunel, 75, after claiming that both him and Prince Andrew, 60, used her as their ‘sex slave’
Prince Andrew was, like his friend Maxwell, a regular visitor to Epstein’s mansion flat in Paris, where many of the worst crimes against girls are said to have taken place. Pictured: Prince Andrew, Virginia and Ghislaine Maxwell at Maxwell’s London flat
‘Ms Giuffre now lives in Australia but responded to the appeal,’ said an investigating source. ‘She was interviewed remotely, and provided considerable evidence against Brunel.
‘She said that she was raped by Brunel in the early 2000s, including in 2001. This was a considerable breakthrough for the enquiry.’
It meant that the alleged crime was well within the statute of limitations, and therefore prosecutable.
Officers were set to arrest Brunel in January following further enquiries, but on December 16 he was intercepted at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris with a one-way ticket to Dakar, capital of Senegal, in West Africa.
‘This led to his immediate arrest and he was placed in custody,’ said the source. ‘The multiple rape charges solely relate to the testimony of Virginia Giuffre, and not any of the other alleged rape victims.
‘The sexual harassment indictment is nothing to do with the Epstein case, and instead relates to incidents in 2016 following a complaint by another woman who has not gone public.’
The ‘multiple rapes’ of Virginia Giuffre – now a mother of three who was called Virginia Roberts before her marriage – were said to have mainly taken place at Epstein’s home on the private island of Little Saint James, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Giuffre had produced sworn testimonies saying that both Brunel and Prince Andrew attacked her there.
According to French law, a French citizen such as Brunel can be tried in France for offences committed abroad.
Epstein – an old friend of Andrew’s and a business associate of Brunel’s – committed suicide in his prison cell in New York on August 10 2019, while awaiting trial for a range of offences, including trafficking minors for sex, and multiple rapes
Others said to have been involved in the sex ring include Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, who is currently on remand in the USA after being charged with the trafficking of underage girls and the enticement of minors.
Prince Andrew was, like his friend Maxwell, a regular visitor to Epstein’s mansion flat in Paris, where many of the worst crimes against girls are said to have taken place.
A French judicial enquiry into Brunel’s conduct and the sex ring was opened in August 2019, when prosecutors first heard allegations that Brunel and the Queen’s second son shared a lover.
Giuffre said she was forced to sleep with the Duke after being trafficked to him at least three times when she was 17.
Prince Andrew has consistently denied the accusations levelled by Giuffre, telling the BBC in 2019: ‘I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady. None whatsoever.’
Giuffre has now told the French she was routinely raped by Brunel between the ages of 16 and 19.
Brunel, who has worked with celebrities including Jerry Hall, Sharon Stone and Monica Bellucci, is also suspected of using his contacts in the fashion industry to provide victims to Epstein and his friends.
He is said to have flown 12-year-old sisters from a Paris housing estate to America so they could be abused by Epstein as ‘a birthday present’.
Brunel was the founder of MC2, the model agency that prosecutors believe was used as a cover for the sex trafficking ring. The out-of-time evidence against Brunel comes from a number of former models, who – like Giuffre – have waived their anonymity to make their allegations public
The Dutch model, Thysia Huisman (pictured), who was 18 when she first stayed with Brunel, said she was raped by him in 1991. Huisman is now one of at least four alleged victims represented by Anne-Claire Le Jeune, a Paris barrister, who said Brunel being in custody was a huge relief, because their complaints now ‘take on meaning’
Epstein – an old friend of Andrew’s and a business associate of Brunel’s – committed suicide in his prison cell in New York on August 10 2019, while awaiting trial for a range of offences, including trafficking minors for sex, and multiple rapes.
Brunel was the founder of MC2, the model agency that prosecutors believe was used as a cover for the sex trafficking ring.
The out-of-time evidence against Brunel comes from a number of former models, who – like Giuffre – have waived their anonymity to make their allegations public.
New Zealander Zoe Brock has claimed in statements made to French investigators that she was abused in his Paris home in the early 1990s.
The Dutch model, Thysia Huisman, who was 18 when she first stayed with Brunel, said she was raped by him in 1991.
Huisman is now one of at least four alleged victims represented by Anne-Claire Le Jeune, a Paris barrister, who said Brunel being in custody was a huge relief, because their complaints now ‘take on meaning’.
Sigrid McCawley, Virginia Giuffre’s lawyer, confirmed her client was cooperating with the French enquiry and had offered evidence.
McCawley said: ‘My clients and I are delighted [by the French prosecution]. This is a sign that the investigation by the French authorities is advancing.
‘Jean-Luc Brunel played a key role in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. Virginia Giuffre in particular, my oldest client, made it a personal struggle to hold the people who assaulted so many young girls to account. She is grateful to the French authorities for taking Jean-Luc Brunel’s behaviour very seriously.’
Marianne Abgrall, Brunel’s lawyer, said: ‘My client formally disputes the facts of which he is accused. He is very upset that his name is dragged through the mud without moderation.’
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