Epstein Accomplice Who Allegedly Recruited Minors Arrested While Attempting to Flee to Africa

Jean-Luc Brunel, the French modeling agent who allegedly recruited underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein, was arrested by police in Paris on Wednesday while trying to board a Senegal flight. His victims welcomed the development but may have limited ongoing cases in the United States, as France does not extradite its own citizens. Brunel was detained on accusations of rape, sexual assault of minors, human trafficking and being part of a criminal conspiracy and is currently being interrogated, Parisian prosecutors said. He can be held there for up to 96 hours, depending on what charges he faces.

Brunel's whereabouts were previously unknown after he was last spotted at the upscale Paris Country Club in July 2019, the same month Epstein was arrested in New York on charges of trafficking underage girls for sex. Brunel reportedly planned on writing a tell-all book about the Epstein scandal, in hopes to exonerate himself. Still, he later abandoned the idea, according to the Daily Beast. His lawyer denied last year that Brunel was on the run, saying he would be available for questioning, and said that he "firmly contests accusations in the press."

Epstein was found hanging in his New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial over abuses involving girls at his Palm Beach home and on his private island in the Caribbean. French authorities started investigating Brunel that same month after it was revealed Epstein owned an apartment near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Multiple women came forward with allegations that they had been abused in France.

"The victims have long awaited the arrest of Jean-Luc Brunel. They welcome his detention with relief and with confidence in the legal process," Anne-Claire Lejeune, who represents several victims, told AFP. Thysia Huisman, a former Dutch model who says she was drugged and raped by Brunel at the age of 18, said, "This is huge news. I am crying with joy." The Associated Press reports that Huisman broke down in tears and called the development the "best Christmas present ever. ... It sounds like he is not getting out... That's great."

Brunel's name — either as Jean-Luc Brunel, 'Jean Luke' or 'JLB' — appeared 25 times on flight logs from Epstein's private jet between 1998 and 2005, the Telegraph reports. Jail logs also show that Brunel visited Epstein a whopping 70 times while he served a 13-month sentence in Florida for procuring an underage girl for prostitution.

Both Brunel and Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, allegedly helped the billionaire financier procure underage girls, the Guardian reports. Maxwell is currently jailed in a federal facility in New York City, awaiting a trial set for July 2021 on sex trafficking charges. She reportedly introduced Epstein and Brunel after he met her in the 1980s.

Outside of the Epstein case, Brunel has been accused of sexual exploitation and drug abuse by many models. He was a talent scout and boss of the Paris-based agency Karin Models in the 1990s. Still, he was banned from the agency in 1999 after a BBC undercover investigation and a separate CBS 60 Minutes feature unveiled abuse in the fashion industry.