Cape Town survivor details alleged Epstein recruitment, abuse and lasting trauma

CAPE TOWN - A woman who says she was recruited into Jeffrey Epstein’s inner circle while living in Cape Town has detailed her alleged experiences of abuse, grooming and intimidation.

Juliette Bryant, who was 20 and studying psychology and philosophy at the University of Cape Town at the time, says she was approached in 2002 under the guise of a career-making modelling opportunity.

Bryant spoke publicly about her claims, describing how she met Epstein in Cape Town and was later flown to the United States.

‘He was like the king of America’

Bryant said she was attending a modelling pre-drinks event in the city when she was introduced to a woman who claimed that Epstein was in South Africa with high-profile figures, including former US President Bill Clinton.

“She said her friend Jeffrey Epstein was here and he was like the king of America and he owned his own island in the Caribbean,” Bryant said.

RELATED: South Africa link in Epstein files raises fresh questions about grooming networks

She claims she was invited to meet Epstein at a dinner in Cape Town before being asked to attend what was presented as a modelling casting at a hotel the following day.

According to Bryant, travel documents were arranged for her, and she was flown to the United States within weeks.

“I’d never travelled out of South Africa in my life,” she said.

Allegations of abuse and intimidation

Bryant alleges that shortly after arriving in New York, she was diverted to Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.

She described feeling frightened and trapped, claiming she believed her family’s safety was at risk if she did not comply with what was expected of her.

“I got a terrible fright. I suddenly realised that these people, if I didn’t do what they wanted, I just got this horrible feeling that my family weren’t going to see me again,” she said.

Bryant also claimed she was taken to several of Epstein’s properties, including his ranch in New Mexico, describing it as ‘a very, very frightening place’.

Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, is currently serving a prison sentence in the United States for child sex trafficking-related offences.

Psychological hold and later contact

Bryant acknowledged that emails released in court records show she contacted Epstein years after the alleged abuse.

She attributed this to what she described as a psychological hold and trauma response.

“He had a great psychological hold over me,” she said, adding that she had been hospitalised multiple times with panic attacks after returning to South Africa.

She said she later sought therapy and began, in her words, to ‘untangle’ the impact of what she experienced.

Bryant also alleged she had been discouraged from speaking publicly and that she feared for her safety.

“I don’t feel safe,” she said, adding that she now lives in a security estate and has taken additional precautions.

Calls for accountability

Bryant said she believes more information linked to Epstein and his associates has yet to surface publicly.

“It’s been a huge relief that most has actually come out,” she said.

She called for accountability for anyone who knowingly facilitated or enabled abuse.

“I hope that they’re all held accountable, and I hope that they’re exposed,” she said.

Authorities in multiple countries, including the United States, have previously investigated aspects of Epstein’s network. There is no indication that South African authorities have announced a formal investigation linked to Bryant’s specific allegations.

Her claims remain part of the broader global fallout from the Epstein case, which continues to generate scrutiny over the powerful figures who were in his orbit.

For more details, listen to Bryant using the audio player below: