Modeling agent close to Epstein found dead in French jail

By ANGELA CHARLTON
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors say a modeling agent who was close to disgraced U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead Saturday in his French jail cell. Agent Jean-Luc Brunel was being held in an investigation into the rape of minors and trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation. The French investigation was prompted by sex-trafficking charges against Epstein in the U.S., and Brunel was considered central to the probe. Paris police opened an investigation into Brunel’s death. Victims of alleged abuse by Brunel described his death as a double blow, after Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial.  One lawyer said there is “great disappointment, great frustration that (the victims) won’t get justice.”