Fifteen women urged France on Thursday to investigate the former European head of modelling agency Elite for possible links to US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Gerald Marie has already been accused of sex offences dating back to the 1980s and 1990s but the case was shelved in 2023 because the allegations were too old.
Former BBC journalist Lisa Brinkworth and ex-model Ebba Karlsson delivered a letter to prosecutors in Paris asking for further action on Marie.
“What we want the investigators to determine is the nature of the link between Epstein and Gerald Marie, and whether he was involved in any wrongdoing with Epstein,” Brinkworth, who represents the Victorious Angels — We Rise collective, told AFP.
The group describes itself as a collective of abuse survivors of Marie and modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, who killed himself in 2022 while he was under investigation.
In their letter, which AFP has seen, the women said they could provide the prosecutor “with court and email evidence to show the association between Gerald Marie, Brunel and Epstein”.
A lawyer for Marie said the case against him had already been thown out.
“As teenagers and very young women, all of us suffered horrific physical abuse and psychological trauma at the hands of these French nationals,” the signatories wrote.
“All but one of us were raped or sexually assaulted on French soil.”
– ‘There was a connection’ –
Brinkworth filed a complaint in 2020 accusing Marie of sexually assaulted her in public in Milan in 1998 when she was a BBC journalist.
Three former models, including Karlsson, backed her complaint with allegations of rape or sexual assault by Marie.
An investigation into the accusations was shelved in 2023 because of the statue of limitations but Brinkworth has appealed.
Celine Bekerman, a lawyer for Marie, said he was “confident about any investigation into possible links with Jeffrey Epstein”.
“The allegations made by these complainants have already been examined by the French courts and resulted in a decision to drop the case,” she told AFP.
The 15 signatories — Dutch, Swedish, UK and US nationals — argue the situation has evolved since the case was closed because the Paris public prosecutor has since opened two framework investigations into allegations against Epstein.
One covers human trafficking offences, the other financial wrongdoing.
“We do know that there was a connection (between Marie and Epstein) and for that reason we feel that he should be looked at a bit more closely as part of these investigations,” Brinkworth said of the Frenchman.
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