Paris opens Jeffrey Epstein probe after child sex abuse victim group gets 10 witness statements

France has opened a preliminary probe to see if disgraced late US financier Jeffrey Epstein committed any sex crimes on French territory or against any under-age French victims, the Paris public prosecutor said on Friday.

Epstein was arrested on July 6 in New Jersey after his private jet landed on a flight from Paris, where he had a residence on Avenue Foch, one of the capital’s most exclusive addresses in the 16th district near the Arc de Triomphe.

This week child sex abuse advocacy group Innocence En Danger (Innocence at Risk) said they had received 10 witness statements regarding alleged crimes that had taken place on French soil, although not necessarily involving French victims.

A photo taken two decades ago by ‘underage sex slave’ Virginia Roberts also emerged this week, showing Epstein and his accused accomplice ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, looking carefree as they walk through Paris. 

Investigations will focus on potential crimes committed against French victims on national territory as well as abroad, Paris Prosecutor said Friday. The disgraced financier had an apartment on Avenue Foch near Arc de Triomphe

Paris: Virginia Roberts included multiple images of herself during the time she was being trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein in court filings (Epstein and Maxwell above in a photo taken by Roberts circa late 2000)

‘The investigations… will focus on potential crimes committed against French victims on national territory as well as abroad, and on suspects who are French citizens,’ Paris Prosecutor Remy Heitz said in a statement. Heitz said the decision was after exchanges with his office and American authorities.

Earlier this month, French gender equality minister Marlene Schiappa had called for an investigation, while the French child-protection group had also said it had written to the Paris public prosecutor. 

The head of the group, Homayra Sellier, said the alleged incidents ‘took place on French territory and probably at the hands of French people’.

Children 15 years or older are alleged to have been raped or victims of sexual aggression.  Potential charges for any French people connected also include criminal association with a view to commit crimes.

A case could go to trial in France if findings from the probe are not struck off.

Epstein died on August 10 in his jail cell at the age of 66, and an autopsy report released this month concluded he had hanged himself.

Epstein had been convicted in 2008 in the United States of sex with a minor. He was later released but was again arrested in July, pleading not guilty to charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls as young as 14.

Child sex abuse victim advocacy group said alleged incidents ‘took place on French territory and probably at the hands of French people’. Epstein’s Paris home is pictured. ‘Sex slave’ Virginia Roberts said: ‘The activities were so obvious and bold that anyone spending any significant time at one of Epstein’s residences would have clearly been aware of what was going on’

Probe will also look at suspects who are French citizens. Pictured is Epstein’s former close friend, modeling tycoon Jean-Luc Brunel who has not been heard from, but he is accused in court documents of rape and procuring girls for Epstein

French women rights minister Marlene Schiappa arrives at the Elysee Palace for a meeting with French President Macron in Paris, France, 23 August 2019. She had called for an investigation

Since Epstein’s arrest this year his former close friend, modeling tycoon Jean-Luc Brunel has not been heard from, but he is accused in court documents of rape and procuring girls for Epstein.  

Virginia Roberts sued Epstein’s British paramour Maxwell when she denied Roberts’ accusations detailing the sexual abuse and rape she endured as a teenager at the hands of the pair.

Photos show Roberts with Maxwell and Prince Andrew in London, at Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico and in New York. 

Roberts first shared these photos with the FBI back in 2011, when she was contacted about Epstein. 

The photos that were used by Roberts make it clear that she was with Epstein at some of his properties, most notably his ranch in New Mexico.

‘The first one is a museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We had gone sightseeing for the

Roberts and another underage victim are suing the government for the sweetheart plea deal they offered Epstein, and for failing to provide the plaintiffs and other victims with any concrete information about the sex offender.  

New Mexico: Roberts included multiple images of herself during the time she was being trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein in court filings (above in New Mexico, age 17). She said: ‘His interest in this kind of sex was obvious to the people around him’

London: Roberts in the past claimed in US court papers that she slept with Prince Andrew, a former friend of Epstein (Roberts with Prince Andrew and Maxwell in a photo shot by Epstein)

It was Roberts who reopened the FBI’s probe into Epstein when she provided agents with photos of herself travelling the world with the pedophile. 

Roberts, who was the first and remains one of the few Epstein victims who has gone public with her allegations, recounted how she found herself being shuttled around the world and raped by men three times her age in court papers. 

And she was not the only one who was scared she claims in court documents.

‘When I was with him, Epstein had sex with underage girls on a daily basis. His interest in this kind of sex was obvious to the people around him,’ noted Roberts.

‘The activities were so obvious and bold that anyone spending any significant time at one of Epstein’s residences would have clearly been aware of what was going on.’

Roberts in the past claimed in US court papers that she slept with Prince Andrew, a former friend of Epstein – however he has always denied any involvement and the allegations were later struck from the record as being ‘immaterial and impertinent’.