Jean-Luc Brunel, a French "modelling agent" accused of trafficking young girls for billionaire sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, was found dead in his jail cell this morning, hanged. Brunel, 76, was detained in an investigation into whether Epstein had committed sex crimes on French territory or against French victims. Brunel went on the run at the same time as Ghislaine Maxwell, reports Sky News, but was soon arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
A frequent companion of Epstein, Brunel was considered central to the French investigation into the alleged sexual exploitation of women and girls by the disgraced US financier and his associates. Multiple women identified themselves as victims and have spoken to police since the French probe was opened in 2019. Virginia Giuffre claimed Brunel offered girls modelling jobs in the US, but was actually recruiting them for Epstein.
Speculation and sarcastic jokes are everywhere, an army of instant experts talking authoritatively about someone they learned about minutes earlier. If there is reason to be cynical and presumptive, the point is surely that we'll just never know.
