Epstein abuse survivor says model agency 'put me in danger'

A woman named Roza, who was raped by US financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has told the BBC World Service that the US president of the model agency MC2 Model Management sent her to two photoshoots at Epstein's Palm Beach, Florida, home in 2009. At the time, Epstein was serving a jail sentence for sex offences against a minor, but was allowed to work from his home each day.

"My agency's job was to protect me, and they failed. In fact, they put me in danger. And for that, they should be held accountable," Roza said.

The agency's role

Roza was 18 and had arrived in the US from Uzbekistan about a month earlier. MC2's US president was Jeff Fuller, who now runs another agency, The Source Models. Roza says Fuller knew exactly where she was going, and she shows an expense statement suggesting he personally booked her flight home after the second shoot. Fuller has previously said he did not know she was going to Epstein's house, or that she was being abused. He has not responded to the BBC's latest allegations.

According to Roza, the shoots led to a job as Epstein's assistant, and he later raped her systematically. Other survivors have described how recruiting assistants was a ruse that let him keep abusing young women.

Documents and others involved

Files released by the US Department of Justice show that 10 MC2 models met or communicated with Epstein after his conviction. They also show Epstein gave the agency $1m in 2005, even though its owners told a US publication two years later that he had no involvement in the company. MC2's US branch was dissolved a month after Epstein's second arrest in 2019, and 50 of its models moved to The Source Models.

The BBC's material also raises questions about former agent Ramsey Elkholy and Next Management director Faith Kates. Elkholy tried to connect 34 women with Epstein; he rejects any allegation that he knew of or facilitated abuse. Kates's lawyers say she was misled by Epstein. New York State senator Zellnor Myrie has proposed a bill that would give police greater powers to investigate Epstein's alleged enablers.