Crucial day in the Epstein affair. Ghislaine Maxwell, Franco-American-British, is appearing on Tuesday before a New York federal judge to request his release on bail. One year after the suicide of the pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, this 58-year-old woman is said to have records implicating influential figures. She is charged with "assisting, aiding and abetting the sexual assaults on minors of Jeffrey Epstein" from 1994 to 1997. Her lawyers have indicated that she wants to plead not guilty.
Two ex-models take advantage of this rebound to relaunch the French investigation, with new accusations against Jean-Luc Brunel. They are looking beyond the borders for victims of the agent, via a website, Getbrunel.com ("Catch Brunel"), translated into five languages.
Brunel, the disturbing modeling agent
Jean-Luc Brunel would be the central figure in the French part of the case. At the head of the Karin Models agency until 2000, he founded the MC2 Model Management agency in Miami, New York and Tel Aviv and could have caused victims around the world. "Brunel is one of the pieces of this perverse system," argues Thysia Huisman, one of the two alleged victims.
In August 2019, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation into possible victims of Jeffrey Epstein in France. Several ex-models describe Jean-Luc Brunel as one of the young girls' providers for Epstein. Some accuse the rape officer.
VIDEO. Epstein case: why France is directly involved
According to our information, a dozen women were heard by the police from the Central Office for the Suppression of Violence against Persons (OCRVP). Aside from a procedure for sexual harassment, the facts are always prescribed. This is the case for Thysia Huisman and Vanessa (the first name has been changed) . Failing to be able to prosecute themselves, they wish to find and accompany victims of Jean-Luc Brunel whose denunciations would not be limited by the limitation period.
Drugs and rapes avenue Hoche
"We know very well that there are other victims," says Thysia Huisman. But they have not yet found the courage to come forward. This certainty, Thysia Huisman and Vanessa draw it from the fact that Jean-Luc Brunel would have raped them with the same operating mode. While they were in Paris in his plush apartment on Avenue Hoche (Paris VIII), near the Arc de Triomphe, the agent offered them a drink. Then it's the black hole until waking up.
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
For Vanessa, it was a weekend in 1987. She was 26 years old and was a model for the agency Glamor. The Canadian says she woke up naked with Brunel by her side, pain between her legs. "I barely spoke French, I was ashamed, I didn't want to file a complaint," she regrets. However, in 1988, she told her story in the program 60 Minutes on the American channel CBS. "I really thought that after that, he would be brought to justice. But nothing happened! "
My calls to @ PoliceNationale
are not felt. "The limitation period has run out," they say. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? I was DRUGGED & VIOLATED by the vicious #JeanLucBrunel. It ends now. Let us unite and do justice, advice https://t.co/obJ6Sq45QH pic.twitter.com/MCnWBZoaqo
The agent's behavior is then known in the fashion world, without this having any consequence in his career. “In 1991, my agency in Brussels encouraged me to live with Brunel, says Thysia Huisman. For them, it was a great opportunity for my career. The Dutch model was then only 18 years old. One evening, Jean-Luc Brunel rapes her after giving her a drink.
"I tried to live with it, but it's impossible"
"We can see that an operating mode is taking shape," she judges, referring to the drugs that he would slip into the drinks of women. To the other potential victims, she wishes to say: "You are not alone. "Some may want to stop talking about what happened to them," Thysia assumes. I also tried to live with it, but it is impossible. The victims do not forget, only the aggressor comes out. Vanessa is now a mother, she agrees to testify so that this does not happen to other girls.
When contacted, Jean-Luc Brunel's lawyer, Me Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, corrected: “I don't want to react. I would remind you that Mr. Brunel is not the subject of any legal proceedings and has never been heard. "
French justice too wait-and-see?
The hearing of Ghislaine Maxwell could be a historic advance: "I will be hooked in front of the news this Tuesday, confirms Thysia, even if I am afraid of making myself false hopes. "Vanessa is more skeptical:" I think Ghislaine Maxwell will not speak, it is a network made up of people so powerful. They have to lobby. "
The lawyer for the two women, Maître Anne-Claire Le Jeune, regrets the wait-and-see attitude of the French investigators: "It is imperative that France finally gets the elements of the American procedure communicated which establish the link between Jean-Luc Brunel and Jeffrey Epstein. The press has disseminated many elements, and French justice still does not have them! "
VIDEO. Epstein case: accuser of Prince Andrew begs British to support her
For Anne-Claire Lejeune, everything has not yet been done in the case: "There are a lot of avenues to be explored: Virginia Giuffre (Editor's note: one of Epstein's accusers) has said publicly that she is ready to give information to the French police, they have the keys to this file. It is time for things to move forward in France, victims are waiting. "
PODCAST. Epstein case: why France is concerned
