Jeffrey Epstein: The Story She Was Too Afraid to Tell for Years
The trafficking operation run by Jeffrey Epstein reportedly reached the southern edge of Africa, held together not just by money or power, but by psychological manipulation that survivors say kept them trapped for years.
An emotional survivor account reveals how psychological control, international travel, and isolation shaped life inside Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking network stretching from South Africa to the Caribbean.
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For survivor Juliette Bryant, now 43, the experience is best described using one haunting phrase.
“Invisible chains is a good way to put it,” she said. “It was like I was handcuffed invisibly.”
For years, she carried the story in silence.
“I’d never even told my family. I never told anyone about what happened with him until he died.”
Her story began in 2002 in Cape Town, inside what she thought was the start of a dream. At the time, she was a first-year university student and an aspiring model. At just 20 years old, she believed she was stepping into a life-changing opportunity.
“It felt like my dreams were coming true,” she said. “My family was struggling financially and I just wanted to make a difference for them.”
Within three weeks of meeting Epstein at a restaurant, she boarded a flight to New York City — her first time ever leaving South Africa. At that same restaurant meeting, she recalled seeing former president Bill Clinton, who was visiting for an AIDS awareness trip alongside actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker.
But excitement quickly turned into confusion and fear.
Only hours after landing in New York, she was told she would continue traveling to the Caribbean. A driver dropped her at a runway at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. There, she boarded a private jet where Epstein and women she says helped recruit her were already waiting.
“He patted the chair next to him… and I went and sat there,” she said. “It was such a confusing situation for a young person to be in.”
Then came the moment she says changed everything.
“As the plane took off, he started forcibly touching me… and I suddenly realised — oh my God, my family aren’t going to see me again. These people might kill me.”
She remembers the women around her laughing.
“I was really petrified.”
Bryant believes she was likely not the only young woman trafficked from Cape Town. Emails connected to Epstein reportedly show unnamed women traveling between Cape Town and cities including London, Atlanta, and New York as recently as 2018.
She said she was not sent to other men but was repeatedly raped by Epstein.
Her days became a cycle of brief public normalcy and private terror.
“I would see him at lunch, breakfast and dinner, and then I would be called to his room.”
The rest of the time, she said, she was alone — sitting by the pool, reading books, trying to pass time. She found disposable cameras in the kitchen and began taking photos, documenting fragments of her reality.
She said the photos show two completely different worlds — smiling moments beside other young women, and images that capture deep loneliness and emotional emptiness.
“There was no way of getting away,” she said. “They had my passport.”
After landing on one Caribbean island, she said they were flown by helicopter to Epstein’s private island. Escape felt impossible.
“There was just no way. I’m not strong enough to swim away. I wouldn’t be able to swim off there.”
An investigation by Sky journalist Tom Cheshire later explored whether victims may have been secretly filmed.
Even today, Bryant says recovery is ongoing. She continues to learn about the scale of Epstein’s operation while trying to rebuild her mental health.
The constant media presence makes it harder.
“I look on Facebook, I see Epstein’s face. I look on X, I see Epstein’s face. I look at the news — there it is again.”
“You know, there are times when it’s made me feel physically ill… it’s just constantly there and there is no way of escaping it.”
The release of additional Epstein files by the US Department of Justice sparked controversy after insufficient redactions exposed information about victims. Bryant’s emails to Epstein were released unredacted, showing she expressed support for him before his 2008 trial and continued contacting him until 2017.
She says many emails were sent during moments of emotional collapse.
“Whenever I sent emails, it was always when I had been drinking or when I was having a bit of a breakdown.”
“I always felt like he was watching me.”
“I have nothing to hide… but it confuses people. The man had a terrible grip on my mind.”
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