- Published
A woman raped by Jeffrey Epstein says the president of the model agency representing her put her in danger, when he sent her to two photoshoots at the convicted sex offender's Florida beach house.
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he → publish → house
At the time, in 2009, Epstein was serving a jail sentence for sex offences against a minor but was allowed to work each day from his home.
"
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Epstein → serve → home
My agency's job was to protect me, and they failed.
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they → protect → me
In fact, they put me in danger.
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they → put → danger
And for that, they should be held accountable," she tells the BBC World Service.
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she → hold → Service
Roza was 18 when she was first sent to Epstein's Palm Beach home by MC2 Model Management's US branch, having only arrived in the US from Uzbekistan about a month earlier.
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she → send → Uzbekistan
MC2's US president at the time, Jeff Fuller, now runs another US model agency called The Source Models.
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president → run → agency
"My agency knew exactly where I was.
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I → know → ?
So Jeff knew exactly where I was going," says Roza.
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Roza → know → ?
She shows us an expense statement suggesting Fuller himself booked her flight home from Palm Beach, following her second shoot at Epstein's home.
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Fuller → show → home
Fuller has previously claimed he did not know Roza was going to Epstein's house.
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Roza → claim → house
She says the photoshoots led to her being employed as an assistant to Epstein.
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her → say → Epstein
Other survivors have explained how the financier used the recruitment of assistants as an elaborate ruse to allow him to continue abusing young women.
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him → explain → women
Roza says Epstein went on to systematically rape her.
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Epstein → say → her
Fuller has not responded to the BBC's allegations.
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Fuller → respond → allegations
He has previously said he did not know Roza was being abused.
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Roza → say → ?
We discovered through the Epstein-related documents released by the US Department of Justice [DOJ] that 10 models from MC2 met, or were in communication with, Epstein after his conviction.
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models → discover → conviction
The files also show Epstein gave $1m (£742,000) to MC2 in 2005 - despite the agency owners telling a US publication two years later that Epstein had no involvement in their company.
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Epstein → show → company
Testimony shared with BBC Eye also raises questions about the role played by two other individuals who were active in the model industry, and whom the DOJ files show had close relationships with Epstein - former agent Ramsey Elkholy and agency director Faith Kates.
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files → share → Epstein
A DOJ statement from last year, that no evidence has been uncovered which would warrant further investigation against "uncharged third parties", is now being challenged by New York State senator, Zellnor Myrie.
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which → uncover → senator
He has proposed a new sex trafficking bill to give police greater power to investigate Epstein's alleged enablers.
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He → propose → enablers
Sara Ziff, founder of the Model Alliance, which campaigns for stronger protections for models in the US, approves.
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which → campaign → US
Roza says the person behind the camera at the photoshoots MC2 sent her to was not a professional photographer, but Epstein's girlfriend at the time, Nadia Marcinko.
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MC2 → say → time
Roza describes the set-up as "strange - there was no stylist" and the photos were never used.
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photos → describe → up
She has since become convinced the shoots were stage-managed by Epstein and MC2.
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shoots → become → Epstein
If you are outside the UK, please watch on YouTube, external
An email in the DOJ files, from Fuller to Epstein, makes clear the close ties between the agency and the financier.
"Had it not been for you, we would have fired her months ago," Fuller writes of another model in March 2012.
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Fuller → watch → March
"And I would be careful as she blabs about things," he says.
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he → blab → things
A month after Epstein's second arrest in 2019, MC2's US branch was dissolved and Fuller opened a new agency, The Source Models, which is still operating.
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which → dissolve → agency
The BBC has found that 50 models from MC2 were transferred to his new agency.
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models → find → agency
We asked The Source Models to comment on our findings - it did not reply.
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it → ask → findings
Model agencies were useful to Epstein, says Sigrid McCawley, the lead lawyer for more than 100 of Epstein's victims.
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McCawley → say → victims
"Epstein said to many people he wanted three different girls a day.
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he → say → girls
The [model] scouts were really critical because they were the ones who were identifying the type of woman that Epstein liked."
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Epstein → identify → that
In the case of former agent Ramsey Elkholy, BBC Eye has discovered he tried to connect 34 women to Epstein, including an 18-year-old who was still in school.
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who → discover → school
The experience of one of the women highlights how assistants would be co-opted into the structure of the abuse.
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assistants → highlight → abuse
Elkholy, the DOJ files show, suggested to Epstein that one of the financier's female assistants befriend this woman, before introducing her to Epstein.
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one → show → Epstein
We spoke to this woman, and she revealed that at her first meeting with Epstein, aged 19, he sexually abused her in his New York townhouse.
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he → speak → townhouse
Ramsey Elkholy told the BBC: "I completely reject any allegation that I knew of or facilitated abuse of any kind…
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I → tell → kind
At the time, I had no knowledge of any abuse and I knew only his own [Epstein's] account of his 2008 [legal] case, which I misguidedly believed."
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I → have → which
He continued: "The record and published reporting show that women were often groomed by other women in his inner circle.
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women → continue → circle
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
