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Around 10 previously unknown suspected victims have come forward to assist French investigators in a human trafficking probe linked to the network of deceased American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed the development on Sunday, revealing that approximately 20 potential victims in total responded to her February appeal, urging individuals to speak out.
While half of those who came forward were already known to the authorities, the emergence of 10 entirely new witnesses has given fresh momentum to the investigation.
The French inquiry was initiated following the US Justice Department’s January release of a massive cache of files detailing the illicit activities of the disgraced financier, who died in a New York prison cell in 2019.
Local magistrates are actively investigating potential offences committed on French soil, as well as checking for French citizens who may have facilitated or participated in Epstein’s trafficking ring.
Several of the newly identified victims now live abroad, so investigators are trying to coordinate travel and schedule in-person interviews in Paris.
To build their case, French authorities are conducting a thorough review of the newly unsealed “Epstein files” to match names with the testimonies of the alleged victims.
Prosecutor Beccuau noted that her team has also re-examined Epstein’s seized computers, telephone logs, and address books while simultaneously preparing formal requests for international legal assistance.
This digital and archival review follows an initial search of Epstein’s luxury apartment in Paris, which was conducted shortly after he died in 2019.
The scope of the current French investigation heavily intersects with prior enquiries into prominent European fashion figures, including late modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel and former agency executive Gérald Marie.
Brunel, who was arrested in 2020 for allegedly procuring minors for Epstein, died by suicide in prison in 2022, while previous sexual abuse allegations against Marie were dismissed last year due to the statute of limitations.
Although multiple former models have described systematic grooming networks operating within the French fashion industry as far back as the 1990s, Beccuau stated that no potential suspects have been formally questioned in this latest probe.
