More than two decades after she became prey to Jeffrey Epstein, survivor Juliette Bryant says she was trapped by “invisible chains” – a fear so overwhelming that she believed her life was in danger.

In 2002, Juliette Bryant, 20 at the time, was introduced to Epstein during what appeared to be a life-changing opportunity. Coming from a family facing financial hardship, the Cape Town university student and aspiring model said she thought doors were opening.

At the time, Epstein projected extraordinary influence. His connections spanned continents, placing him within elite political and business circles – and when he told the young woman he could get her a modelling contract, she believed the opportunity was real.

“It just seemed like my dreams were all coming true because our family was struggling financially and I just really wanted to try and make a difference for my family,” Bryant, now 43, told Sky News.

Abuse started immediately
Within weeks of meeting him at a Cape Town restaurant – where he was with former President Bill Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey and billionaire businessman Les Wexner, the founder of Victoria’s Secret – Bryant boarded a private jet bound for New York.

And it didn’t take long for the abuse to begin.

“[Epstein] patted the chair next to him…and then I went and sat there. It was such a confusing situation for a young person to be in,” she said in a recorded interview with Sky News.

“As the plane took off, he started forcibly touching me in between my legs, and I just freaked out and I suddenly realized – oh my God, my family aren’t going to see me again, these people might kill me.”

‘Thought that I was going to die’
The realization, she says, shifted her response from shock to survival.

“I got such a fright, it was such a huge changing thing for me,” the teary-eyed survivor shared. “I suddenly realized I had to be nice and be friendly, because I realized I was in great danger.”

Adding to her distress, the women who recruited her “just laughed,” she said, adding “I was really, really petrified. It really changed me, the whole thing, going through this.

“I just didn’t know what to do and I really thought that I was going to die.”

Trapped on Epstein’s island
After landing in the United States, she was flown to one of Epstein’s Caribbean properties and transported by helicopter to his private island, Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“They had my passport and by then we had landed on one of the Caribbean islands and then were taken on a helicopter to his island,” Bryant said.

“There was just no way of getting away. I’m not strong enough to swim away. I wouldn’t be able to swim off there.”

Raped repeatedly for two years
Bryant alleges that for two years, she was raped repeatedly by Epstein, who never trafficked her to other men.

“I would see him at lunch, breakfast and dinner, and then I would be called to his room. Otherwise, I didn’t see a lot of him, he was always off working,” she said.

“I spent a lot of time there on my own. I’d sit by the pool or read books, and I also found disposable cameras in the kitchen which I took to, so I took photos while I was there.”

The horrors of Jeffrey Epstein extended to Africa’s southern coast – recruiting victims from Cape Town and trafficking them to his properties around the world.

Produced by @SophieAlex1 & @vauldicarelse and filmed by Barnaby Mitchell.

Full dispatch: https://t.co/hY6oZHyPOD https://t.co/HPk8fs0Jgk

— Yousra Elbagir (@YousraElbagir) February 15, 2026

Those images, taken at several of his properties, later served as evidence of the abuse.

‘Didn’t want to be around him’
But it wasn’t just her.

Bryant says she encountered women and underage girls from Brazil, Romania, France and Spain while in Epstein’s orbit.

“Eventually, he did offer me money to recruit girls for him. Offered me $2,000 dollars for any girl I’d bring, or $4,000 a month if I would stay there,” Bryant explained. “But I didn’t, you know, because I didn’t want to be around him,”

‘Invisible chains’
Looking back on the time she says she was held in Epstein’s world, Bryant said the psychological control left her feeling ashamed and unable to walk away, even when she desperately wanted to.

“The man had terrible grip over my mind. It took me time to heal from the psychological,” she said, adding she was trapped by “invisible chains…it was like I was handcuffed invisibly.”

“I’d never even told my family, I never told anyone about what happened with him until he died,” she added.

‘No way of escaping’
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor and died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charge.

For Bryant the aftermath is ongoing.

“I look on Facebook, I see Epstein’s face. I look on X, I see Epstein’s face. I look at the news, there it is again,” she said. “There are times when it’s made me feel physically ill, to be honest, it is just constantly there and there is no way of escaping it.”

By releasing the photographs and speaking publicly, Bryant says she is continuing to process what happened and reclaim her voice. The physical confinement ended years ago, bur the psychological effects have taken far longer to untangle.

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