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Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz: allegation of rape
Photo: ALAIN JOCARD / AFP
The French manager Jean-Luc Brunel has been taken into police custody in the course of the investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein case.
The man is accused of rape and sexual assault of minors as well as human trafficking, said the Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz.
Some of the victims are said to have been younger than 15 years old at the time of the crime.
The suspect was arrested on Wednesday.
The public prosecutor's office had already started investigations in summer 2019 and searched a model agency in Paris in the 8th arrondissement.
The subject of the investigation are possible crimes that could have been committed on French territory and in which the victims or perpetrators are French citizens.
Epstein had numerous personal connections to France.
He owned a luxury apartment near the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Jean-Luc Brunel was considered one of his confidants.
Brunel had denied any allegations in the past.
Epstein has been charged by the New York City Prosecutor for molesting dozen underage girls.
The businessman set up an illegal sex trafficking ring in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005, the indictment said.
Epstein had committed suicide in a New York prison in August 2019.
A few days ago it became known that Epstein's former partner is trying again to get out of US custody.
Ghislaine Maxwell filed a bail request through her attorneys on Monday in order to be released pending trial.
According to court papers, she wants to deposit $ 28.5 million.
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lmd / dpa / AFP