French modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was found dead in his Paris prison cell on Saturday.
A spokesperson for the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed Brunel’s death by hanging but was unable to comment on whether Brunel killed himself, saying that the matter had been referred to the French judicial police.
Brunel’s lawyers, assuming their client’s death was a suicide, said he had been ‘crushed’ by the allegations against him and that his decision ‘was not guided by guilt, but by a sense of injustice’ at his incarceration.
Brunel, 76, had been detained by the French authorities on suspicion of trafficking minors for the purpose of sexual exploitation, as well on suspicion of the rape of minors. He was arrested as part of an inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged role in the trafficking and assault of French citizens.
Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial after being accused of operating a sex trafficking ring and paying girls as young as 14 for sex. Epstein’s death was ruled as suicide by hanging.
Brunel, who co-founded MC2 Model Management alongside Epstein, who funded the venture, had been accused of rape by several former models, one of whom, Thysia Huisman, claims that Brunel drugged and raped her when she was 18.
‘After more than two and a half years of fighting for justice, since I reported Brunel in September 2019, it’s a huge disappointment he will never face a judge,’ she told the BBC.
Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein principal accusers, who has alleged that Brunel raped her, tweeted: ‘I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to face him in a final trial to hold him accountable, but gratified that I was able to testify in person last year to keep him in prison.’
Brunel maintained his innocence throughout the investigation.