Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking ring extended all the way to Africa’s southern coast – held together by the invisible chains of psychological bondage that kept his victims ensnared for years at a time.
“Invisible chains is a good way to put it, it was like I was handcuffed invisibly,” says 43-year-old Juliette Bryant.
“I’d never even told my family, I never told anyone about what happened with him until he died.”
Juliette was recruited from Cape Town by Epstein in 2002, as a first-year university student and aspiring model. At only 20 years old, she thought her life was about to change for good.
“It just seemed like my dreams were all coming true because our family was struggling financially and I just really wanted to try and make a difference for my family.”
Juliette was on a flight to New York on her first overseas trip outside of South Africa, three weeks after meeting Epstein for the first time at a Cape Town restaurant with Bill Clinton, who was there on an official AIDS awareness trip accompanied by actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker.
Hours barely passed after arriving in New York City when she was told she would be travelling on to the Caribbean. A driver dropped her off at a runway at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and she boarded a private jet where Epstein and the women she says initially recruited her in Cape Town were waiting to fly to his private island.
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“He patted the chair next to him… and then I went and sat there. It was such a confusing situation for a young person to be in.
“As the plane took off, he started forcibly touching me in between my legs, and I just freaked out and I suddenly realised – oh my God, my family aren’t going to see me again, these people might kill me, you know?
“They [the women] were laughing. I was really petrified.”
It is unlikely she was the only young woman trafficked by Epstein from Cape Town. Emails from the Epstein files show flight details for unnamed female travellers being shuttled from Cape Town to London, Atlanta and New York up until late 2018.
Juliette says she was not trafficked to other men but raped by Epstein repeatedly.
“I would see him at lunch, breakfast and dinner, and then I would be called to his room. Otherwise, I didn’t see a lot of him, he was always off working.
“I spent a lot of time there on my own. I’d sit by the pool or read books, and I also found disposable cameras in the kitchen which I took to, so I took photos while I was there.”
Juliette’s photos flit between beaming smiles in the embrace of other young women and haunting portraits of desolation and loneliness.
“There was no way of getting away, you know. They had my passport and by then we had landed on one of the Caribbean islands and then were taken on a helicopter to his island. There was just no way of getting away. I’m not strong enough to swim away. I wouldn’t be able to swim off there.”
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Her entrapment was more than physical. Even after she was sent back to Cape Town, she boarded more flights to Epstein’s properties in New York, Palm Beach, Paris and New Mexico where she says she met women and underage girls from Brazil, Romania, France and Spain.
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Juliette tells us she is still piecing together the depth of Epstein’s dark machinery while contending with her psychological recovery and constant exposure to news about her abuser.
“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, to be honest, it is just constantly there and there is no way of escaping it.”
The controversial US Department of Justice release of the latest Epstein files saw dozens of vulnerable victims exposed by insufficient redactions. Juliette’s emails to Epstein were published unredacted and show her expressing support for him ahead of his trial in 2008 and continuing to contact him until 2017.
“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, and that was also why I emailed.
“I have nothing to hide. It has obviously been upsetting because it confuses people because obviously the man had a terrible grip on my mind.”
