Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein instilled terror in a young aspiring model when he cornered her on his private jet and began groping her, leaving her convinced she would never see her family again. Juliette Bryant, who was just 20 years old at the time, recounted the harrowing ordeal in a chilling interview with Sky News, detailing how Epstein's actions unfolded mere hours after recruiting her from Cape Town, South Africa.
Now 43 years old, Ms. Bryant explained that she was lured from South Africa in 2002 with promises of a glamorous new life that would support her struggling family. The encounter began three weeks earlier when she met Epstein at a restaurant in Cape Town, where he was accompanied by high-profile figures including former US President Bill Clinton, actors Kevin Spacey, and Chris Tucker.
Excited for her first trip abroad, Ms. Bryant boarded a flight to New York shortly after that meeting. But the dream quickly turned nightmarish: within hours of landing, she was driven to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and placed on Epstein's private jet headed for the Caribbean.
Recalling the moment aboard the aircraft, Ms. Bryant said Epstein patted the chair next to him, and she sat down. "As the plane took off, he started forcibly touching me in between my legs," she told Sky News. The sudden assault triggered panic, amplifying her isolation far from home.
"I just freaked out. I suddenly realised — oh my God, my family aren’t going to see me again. These people might kill me," Ms. Bryant shared, her words capturing the raw fear that gripped her as Epstein molested her. The incident underscored the predatory tactics Epstein allegedly used to exploit young women.
Ms. Bryant's account adds to the growing body of survivor testimonies against Epstein, the financier who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Her story from the private jet highlights the rapid escalation from recruitment to assault in Epstein's orbit.
