Editing: Matthew Eltringham
Legal Investigation: Sarah McCall
A woman who was raped by Jeffrey Epstein says the president of the modeling agency that represented her put her in danger.
According to the woman, the head of the agency had sent her for two photoshoots to the beach house of Epstein, convicted of sex crimes in Florida.
At that time, in 2009, Epstein was serving a prison sentence for sexual crimes against a minor, but he was allowed to work from his home every day.
The woman told the BBC World Service, "My agency's job was to protect me, but it failed to do so. In fact, it put me in danger. The agency needs to be held accountable for this."
Rosa was 18 years old when the American branch of MC2 Model Management first sent her to Epstein's Palm Beach home.
She had reached America from Uzbekistan only about a month ago. At that time, the president of the American branch of MC2 was Jeff Fuller. Now he runs another American model agency 'The Source Models'.
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Rosa said, "My agency knew exactly where I was. So Jeff also knew where I was going."
What did Rosa tell the BBC?
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Rosa showed us a record of expenses, which indicated that Fuller herself booked her flight home from Palm Beach after the second photoshoot at Epstein's home.
Fuller has previously claimed that he was not aware that Rosa was going to Epstein's house.
Rosa says that after these photoshoots she was hired as Epstein's assistant.
Other survivors of Epstein have also said that the businessman used the recruitment of assistants as a systematic method to continue sexually exploiting young women.
Rosa says that after this Epstein raped her in a planned manner.
Fuller has not responded to the BBC's questions. He has earlier said that he was not aware that Roza was being sexually exploited.
In examining the documents related to Epstein released by the US Justice Department, we came to know that 10 models of MC2 had met Epstein or were in contact with him. All this happened after Epstein was convicted.
The documents also show that Epstein gave $1 million to MC2 in 2005. However, the agency's owners told an American publication two years later that Epstein had no connection with their company.
The testimonies shared with BBC Eye also raise questions about the role of two other people active in the modeling industry.
According to Justice Department documents, both of them had close relations with Epstein. These include former agent Ramsey Alkaholi and agency director Faith Cates.
Last year, the Justice Department said it had found no evidence to warrant further investigation into third parties who have not been charged. Now New York Senator Zellner Myrie is challenging this stance.
He has introduced a new bill related to human trafficking. Its purpose is to give the police more powers to investigate people accused of helping Epstein.
Close relationship between agency and sponsor
Sarah Ziff, founder of 'Model Alliance', an organization working to strengthen the safety of models in America, has supported this step.
He said, "Model agencies are often the problem. They act as a link between the models and the men who exploit them."
Rosa says that in the photoshoots for which MC2 sent her, there was no professional photographer behind the camera. At that time, Epstein's girlfriend Nadia Marcinko was taking photographs.
According to Rosa, the arrangement for the photoshoot was "strange. There was no stylist" and the photos were never used.
Now they are sure that the entire photoshoot was planned jointly by Epstein and MC2.
An email sent from Fuller to Epstein, in Justice Department files, reveals the close relationship between the agency and the sponsor.
In March 2012, Fuller wrote about another model, "If it weren't for you, we would have fired her months ago." He added, "And I would be careful, because she tells a lot of things."
MC2's US branch was shut down a month after Epstein's second arrest in 2019.
After this, Fuller started a new agency named The Source Model, which is still working. A BBC investigation revealed that 50 MC2 models had been sent to Fuller's new agency.
We asked The Source Model for a response on the findings of our investigation, but the agency did not respond.
Sigrid McCauley, the lead lawyer who fought the legal battle on behalf of more than 100 survivors, says that model agencies were useful to Epstein.
He said, "Epstein told many people that he wanted three different girls every day. Think about these statistics. The role of model scouts was extremely important, because they were the ones who identified the kind of women whom Epstein liked."
A BBC Eye investigation into the case of former agent Ramsey Alkouli revealed that he had tried to introduce 34 women to Epstein. These included an 18 year old girl, who was studying in school at that time.
Other women's experiences
The experience of one of these women shows how helpers were also made part of this entire system of sexual exploitation.
According to Justice Department documents, Alcholi suggested to Epstein that one of his female assistants first befriend the girl and then introduce her to Epstein.
We talked to this woman. She told that when she first met Epstein at the age of 19, she was sexually abused in his townhouse in New York.
Ramsey-Alkoholi told the BBC, "I completely deny the allegation that I knew about or facilitated any abuse. I had no knowledge of any abuse at the time. I was only aware of what Epstein told me about his 2008 legal case, which I wrongly relied upon."
He further said, "Records and published reports show that other women in his close circle often lured girls into their trap. I was never a part of that circle nor was I involved in any such activity. My aim was to help models get professional opportunities by introducing them to a very influential person."
Lawyer Sigrid McCauley says that these female assistants had no choice about their behavior.
"These young survivors were being routinely sexually exploited. They were in danger of losing their livelihoods. They had to do what they were told," she said.
We also spoke to Simona (name changed), another model from Eastern Europe. She told that Epstein had raped her more than 200 times.
"People think that we got something out of it, that we agreed to this exploitation to get money or access to influential people. But that's not true. We are left with deep trauma," Simona said.
She told that when she first met Epstein, she was 20 years old and was already associated with a model agency in New York. Epstein had offered to introduce her to his 'good' friend Faith Cates.
At that time Kates was the head of Next Management. It is one of the largest model agencies in the world.
He resigned as a senior executive of the company in December last year, but his name is still mentioned as a director of the company in legal records.
What Faith Cates' lawyers told the BBC
Image source: Getty Images
Simona says that during this meeting, Cates suggested she get plastic surgery and sent information about a surgeon to Epstein.
After meeting Cates, Simona says that Epstein convinced her to give up modeling.
Like Rosa and many of Epstein's other victims, Simona also became his assistant. She says that after this, Epstein raped her for almost two years and controlled every aspect of her life.
Justice Department documents show that Epstein also asked Cates to meet with five other models. However, it is not clear how many of these meetings took place.
Faith Cates' lawyers told the BBC, "Jeffrey Epstein was an adept at manipulating people. Mrs. Cates was one of those whom Epstein badly misled. If she had known at the time what she and the rest of the world know now, she would never have come in contact with Epstein."
The lawyers also said that Cates had never asked any model to undergo plastic surgery.
We also asked Next management for a response on this matter, but they did not respond.
Senator Myrie told the BBC that if her bill becomes law and anyone referred models to Epstein even though they knew or should have known what Epstein was doing, they would be held accountable.
Rosa hopes that sharing her story will encourage other women to come forward.
She said, "There are many women who never talk about this because they are afraid. So to all my sisters who have escaped this abuse, I want to say that now you know me. You know my name. I say, contact me."
Additional reporting: Anika Grosser
We used AI to translate this article, which was originally written in English. A BBC journalist checked this translation before publication. Learn more about how we're using AI.
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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