Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced on Sunday that approximately ten previously unknown suspected victims have stepped forward as part of France's human trafficking investigation into the network of the late US financier Jeffrey Epstein. The probe, launched after the US Department of Justice released a new cache of files in January, aims to uncover offences committed on French soil or involving French nationals who may have facilitated Epstein's crimes.
Beccuau, who had urged potential victims to come forward in February, told RTL broadcaster that around 20 suspected victims have now made themselves known. While some were already familiar to investigators, she noted that “we also had new victims come forward, ones we didn't know at all. There are around 10 of them.”
Investigators Listen to Victims, Scrutinize Epstein's Digital Footprint
“The choice we've made for the time being is to listen to these victims,” Beccuau said. She added that a number of them live abroad, and investigators have arranged meetings to accommodate their travel to Paris. The team is also combing through the Epstein files released by Washington, searching for any names mentioned by alleged victims.
“We have also once again pulled out Mr Epstein's computers, his telephone records, his address books,” Beccuau stated, emphasizing that her office will be “making requests for international assistance.” French authorities had already searched Epstein's luxury Paris apartment in September 2019, shortly after he was found dead in his New York jail cell.
The investigation builds on earlier probes into figures linked to Epstein. Suspected victims already known to investigators include women who spoke during inquiries into former European model agency boss Gerald Marie and late model agent Jean-Luc Brunel. In March, fifteen women urged France to investigate Marie for possible connections to Epstein. However, a 2023 probe into accusations that Marie committed sexual abuse in the 1980s and 1990s was closed because the statute of limitations had expired.
Brunel was arrested in 2020 on allegations of sexually abusing minors and procuring victims for Epstein. He was found dead in his prison cell in 2022. Two former models have told AFP that modelling scout Daniel Siad groomed them with the aim of delivering them to Epstein in one case in the 2000s and to Marie in another in the 1990s.
In the current human trafficking probe, Beccuau confirmed that “none of the people who could potentially be implicated have been questioned” so far. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a minor for prostitution and served 13 months in prison before being released on probation. He died in 2019 while facing federal charges of trafficking underage girls.
The French investigation underscores the continent's ongoing efforts to hold enablers of transnational sex trafficking accountable. As Beccuau's team continues to gather evidence, the case highlights the complex web of international cooperation required to address crimes that span borders. For more on France's legal and security landscape, see our coverage of Paris prosecutors opening a criminal probe into Elon Musk and X over AI misconduct.
