Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Paedophile Island’ where girls were ‘raped and held prisoner’ – World News

Virginia Giuffre, one of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers, this week sued Prince Andrew, alleging he raped her on the island of Little Saint James in the US Virgin Islands

Jeffrey Epstein’s private island looked like a slice of paradise with all the trappings of wealth, but it was a house of horrors with dark secrets, his accusers claim.

The 75-acre estate’s official name is Little Saint James, but locals referred to the child sex offender’s Caribbean bolthole as “Paedophile Island”.

Before he died in 2019, the billionaire was accused of grooming and raping underage girls at the sprawling property in the US Virgin Islands after flying them in on a private jet dubbed the “Lolita Express”.

Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s accusers, this week sued Prince Andrew, alleging he raped her on the island and at other locations, including Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home and Epstein’s New York mansion, when she was under 18 and trafficked for sex.

Have you been affected by this story? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk.

Dad-of-two Andrew, 61, has vehemently denied the allegations in the past, including his car-crash Newsnight interview in 2019, and a spokesman for the duke said this week there was “no comment” when she was asked to respond to Ms Giuffre’s legal action.

Ms Giuffre (née Roberts), 36, has said it was “past the time” for the Queen’s son “to be held to account”.

Epstein, 66, was pronounced dead at a Manhattan hospital in 2019 after he was found hanging in a jail cell as he awaited trial on child sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

Now abandoned, the well-connected financier purchased his private island in 1998 for $7.95 million (about £5 million at the time).

Accessible by private plane or boat, the island features a stone mansion, two guest houses, a swimming pool, temple, helipad, sundial, and sweeping views of the crystal clear sea.

Some conspiracy theories suggest there are secret underground tunnels beneath the temple.

The island had dozens of staff when Epstein used it as his primary residence, and he is known to have hosted many rich and powerful guests.

But it gained a reputation for depravity, according to locals, and there have been allegations of child sexual abuse, human trafficking and orgies.

It is alleged Epstein continued to bring underage girls and young women to the island as recently as the months before his arrest in July 2019.

By then, he was a registered sex offender, having pleaded guilty In 2008 to a felony charge of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor in Florida. He served 13 months of an 18-month sentence, and continued his lavish lifestyle with high-profile associates following his release.

The island estate, now thought to be worth more than £45 million, was raided by the FBI following Epstein’s suicide in August 2019.

Sarah Ransome, a Brit who alleges she was a victim of Epstein, has claimed she was raped up to three times a day during months imprisoned on the island.

She has said she was a 22-year-old aspiring fashion student in Manhattan when she met Epstein in 2006.

Ms Ransome, who is writing a memoir, settled a lawsuit with Epstein and Maxwell in 2018.

Chauntae Davies, 41, has alleged Epstein repeatedly raped her there and was a “monster” behind closed doors.

She also alleged he bragged about his friendship with Andrew.

Ms Davies has claimed she was 21-year-old trainee massage therapist in Los Angeles when she treated Maxwell, the socialite daughter of the late and disgraced media baron Robert Maxwell, at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills.

Ms Davies alleged she was recruited by Ghislaine and flown to Epstein’s house in Palm Beach, Florida, where he performed a sex act on himself in front of her.

Employees at an airport in the US Virgin Islands told Vanity Fair in 2019 that they often saw Epstein in the company of girls who appeared to be minors.

One said he’d see Epstein twice a month on average, adding: “There’d be girls that look like they could be in high school.

“They looked very young. They were always wearing college sweatshirts. It seemed like camouflage, that’s the best way to put it.

“Every time he landed or took off, it was always brought up. We’d always be joking, ‘How many kids are on board this time?’”

Maxwell, 59, is being held in a New York jail as she faces trial on allegations she procured and groomed underage girls for Epstein, her one-time boyfriend.

She faces charges including conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, and enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts. She has denied all charges against her.

Ms Giuffre claims she was trafficked by Andrew’s former friend Epstein to have sex with the duke, when she was aged 17 and a minor under US law.

Andrew was seen at the Queen’s Scottish retreat of Balmoral Castle on Wednesday.

He was thought to have been accompanied by his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.

Andrew stepped back from public duties after the backlash from his 2019 Newsnight interview, dubbed a “car crash”, which had attempted to draw a line under his relationship with Epstein – but instead saw him heavily criticised for showing little empathy with the sex offender’s victims.

Lawyers for Ms Giuffre filed the civil suit seeking unspecified damages at a federal court in New York, where the court documents claim she was “lent out for sexual purposes” by Epstein.

Andrew is named as the only defendant in the 15-page suit, brought under New York state’s Child Victims Act, although Epstein and his former girlfriend Maxwell are mentioned frequently throughout.