The Washington Post has published a new investigative report on the role of French modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel in sending young women and models to the network of the notorious American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The paper conducted a long investigation into why and how Brunel — founder of the once-prominent modelling agency MC2 Models — sent aspiring models and young women into the hands of a criminal like Epstein. After years of legal battles and staying out of public view, Brunel’s associates are now attempting to explain that dark chapter, which the report sets out in detail.
According to the Post’s investigation, Brunel used his influence in the modelling industry to lure young women dreaming of a career, sending them — with the bait of establishing them in international fashion — to Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane, his luxury island and his Manhattan mansion. Epstein had invested heavily in the modelling agency, and the investigation found that Brunel, to keep his business empire alive, supplied young women to Epstein as if they were a commodity. Several survivors among the models said they could never have imagined that coming through a reputed agency would land them in such a horrific trap of sexual abuse.
After long denying the allegations, Brunel’s side and his lawyers — under current legal pressure and confronted with new evidence — are attempting a new line of argument: that Brunel was entirely in the dark about Epstein’s real criminal network, and that he sent models to meet Epstein only to keep a rich investor happy and arrange sponsorships. But secret documents, letters and witness testimony obtained by the Washington Post undercut that claim of innocence: the records show Brunel was not only aware of how Epstein behaved with the young women but in many cases was himself the chief planner of the process. Investigations continue worldwide into who enabled the international sex-trafficking and exploitation ring Epstein built, even after his death. The Post’s report shows how some powerful figures inside the fashion and modelling world, for power and money, pushed young women toward ruin — and the revelations are strengthening demands that the other criminals involved in the ring operating behind modelling agencies also be brought to justice.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report