Juliette Bryant, a 43-year-old South African woman, has spoken out about the years of abuse she suffered at the hands of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Recruited from Cape Town in 2002 when she was a first-year university student and aspiring model, Bryant described the 'invisible chains' that kept her under Epstein's control.
Bryant recalled meeting Epstein for the first time at a Cape Town restaurant with former US president Bill Clinton, who was on an official AIDS awareness trip. Three weeks later, she was on a flight to New York, her first overseas trip outside South Africa. From there, she was taken to Epstein's private island in the Caribbean.
On the private jet, Epstein began forcibly touching her as the plane took off, while other women on board laughed. 'I was really petrified,' she said. Bryant was not trafficked to other men but was repeatedly raped by Epstein. She spent much of her time on the island alone, with no means of escape as her passport was taken.
Emails from Epstein's files show flight details for unnamed female travellers being shuttled from Cape Town to London, Atlanta and New York up until late 2018. Bryant's testimony comes amid renewed calls for Prince Andrew to explain his links to Epstein while serving as UK trade envoy. Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
In 2022, Bryant described Ghislaine Maxwell as a 'monster' during Maxwell's sentencing hearing. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in Epstein's trafficking network. Lawyer Brad Edwards, who secured Virginia Giuffre's £12 million settlement with Prince Andrew, urged the FBI to continue its investigation into others linked to Epstein and Maxwell.
