Brazilian women say Epstein used a fashion pipeline to reach girls, and the details are deeply disturbing
Image by exit78, CC0 1.0.
|
An investigation has uncovered evidence that modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, used his agencies to recruit young women and girls from South America and arrange visas for them to travel to the United States. As reported by BBC News, Brazil’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into whether a recruitment network operating in Brazil was connected to Epstein.
Authorities believe modeling opportunities may have been used as a pathway to identify vulnerable girls and bring them into Epstein’s orbit. Prosecutors are examining whether recruiters, travel arrangements, and agency connections formed part of a broader system that helped move young women from Brazil to the United States.
One woman who narrowly avoided deeper involvement is Gláucia Fekete, who was 16 and living in rural Brazil in 2004 when Brunel visited her family home. He tried to persuade her mother to let Gláucia travel to Ecuador for a modeling competition, presenting the trip as a chance to launch an international career.
Survivors describe a recruitment pipeline through modeling
Gláucia ultimately traveled to Guayaquil for the Models New Generation competition with Brunel’s team. While the event appeared legitimate, she later recalled feeling uneasy when she was not allowed to contact her family during the trip.
Another contestant, a 16 year old from Western Europe who asked to be identified as Laura, also remembered Brunel’s behavior as strange. She said he spent large amounts of time around young Brazilian contestants and appeared to control some of their finances.
Toward the end of the competition, Brunel offered to fly Gláucia to New York for modeling shows with all expenses paid. Her mother refused and cut off contact with Brunel’s network, an outcome Gláucia later described as a narrow escape, amid criminal case chat records.
Documents later released by the US government show Epstein was in Guayaquil on August 24 and 25, 2004, the same time the competition final took place. Records also indicate at least one model under 16 who attended the event later flew on Epstein’s plane multiple times that year.
Another Brazilian woman, identified as Ana to protect her identity, said she experienced the full extent of the alleged pipeline. She was recruited in São Paulo by a woman promising modeling work, but upon arrival her documents were taken and she was told she owed money.
Ana said the woman began arranging meetings with wealthy clients, including Jeffrey Epstein. Weeks after her 18th birthday she was taken to a businessman’s home in São Paulo, where she overheard him describing Epstein as someone who preferred younger girls.
Days later she and two other women were sent to a luxury hotel where Epstein would choose one of them. Ana said he selected her, and US Department of Justice records including emails and flight logs confirm Epstein was in Brazil during that period.
Ana later met Brunel at a party hosted by Epstein and said he helped arrange a US business visa listing Karin Models of America as her sponsor. She insists she never worked for the agency, despite the paperwork, as another courtroom custody fight unfolded elsewhere.
Court records have previously indicated Brunel used agencies including Karin Models of America and MC2 to recruit girls internationally. Brazilian prosecutors say their investigation will focus on how the recruitment system may have operated and whether it constitutes human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
Source link
Published: Mar 12, 2026 07:00 am