Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on May 18 that about 10 new alleged victims have emerged in France's investigation into the network of Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased American sex offender.
Speaking on RTL radio, Beccuau noted that roughly 20 alleged victims had contacted authorities after she urged potential victims to come forward in February. Among them, some were already known to investigators, but "new victims appeared, people we had no knowledge of at all."
"There are about 10 of them," she said, stressing that "our current choice is to listen to these victims." She added that some victims reside abroad, so investigators are arranging suitable meetings when they can travel to Paris.
Following the U.S. Department of Justice's release of investigative files on Epstein, France also launched a human trafficking inquiry. French judges are seeking to probe potential crimes committed in France or involving French individuals who may have facilitated Epstein's offenses.
"We have also re-examined Epstein's computers, phone records, and address books," Beccuau said, adding that her team would "make requests for international assistance."
Epstein died in a U.S. jail in August 2019 while facing charges of trafficking minor girls for sexual purposes. The following month, French investigators searched Epstein's luxury apartment in Paris.
Previously known alleged victims include women who spoke up during investigations into former European modeling agency director Gerald Marie and former modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel. In March, 15 women called on France to investigate Marie about possible ties to Epstein.
French authorities arrested Brunel in 2020 following allegations that he sexually abused minors and supplied victims to Epstein. He was found dead in prison in 2022.
Two former models told AFP that a talent scout named Daniel Siad lured them with the aim of handing them over to Epstein in one case during the 2000s and to Marie in another case in the 1990s.
