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A Disney owned and operated a cruise line in the Caribbean offered a
snorkeling trip for children to Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious
“Pedophile Island” for years.
The day trip to Little St James, known as “Pedophile Island” to
locals, was priced between $60 and $75 for children aged 8 years and
older.
Describing Epstein’s notorious island as “sun-soaked”, the Disney
Cruise did not warn parents that the island was owned by the
notorious billionaire pedophile. Instead, the literature mentioned
“curious fish” that “dart back and forth in the clear blue water”.
What really happened on Little St James, the 75-acre private
paradise in the US Virgin Islands that billionaire sex abuser
Jeffrey Epstein once called home?
It was in the Virgins that Epstein registered as a sex offender in
2010, following his first conviction for child prostitution in 2008.
He also based his shell companies in a small unmarked office in a
seaside strip mall on St Thomas, alongside a Sam’s Mini-Mart and a
salon called Happy Nails.
In 1998, he bought Little St James from venture capitalist Arch
Cummin via a shell company, reportedly paying just under $8 million
(£6 million). The new owner quickly scoured away all the native
vegetation and replaced it with 40-foot palm trees.
Starting in 2007, Epstein began a massive programme of building and
remodelling that drew suspicion from local officials. His main
compound nearly doubled in size, sprouting into a plush mansion with
an outside terrace connecting the master bedroom and the swimming
pool, along with a desalination system.
Satellite photos show a sprawling network of terraces, cottages,
beach houses, swimming pools, docks, utility buildings, a helipad, a
tennis court, slipways, some kind of enclosed lake or lagoon, and
various huts of unknown purpose, all connected by palm-lined roads
where golf buggies ferried guests from place to place (a journey
across the island reportedly took about five minutes).
Stunning drone footage posted on YouTube offers a closer look, with
a huge sundial at the centre of the island big enough to walk around
on and two tall American flags posted at opposite ends of the
island.
At the other end from Epstein’s manor is a squat, boxy blue and
white striped structure often referred to as a “temple”, surrounded
by a terrace with a red labyrinth motif. It previously had a golden
dome and two gold statues on its roof, which were reportedly torn
off in Hurricane Maria.
The building differs greatly from Epstein’s original planning permit
for an octagonal music pavilion and has become a lightning rod for
fevered speculation. Theorists have variously described it as the
entrance to an underground lair, an altar to an Egyptian deity, a
burial ground for his parents, or a site of ritual sexual abuse, but
an investigation by Business Insider concluded that it was most
likely a private study and music room for Epstein.
In 2016, Epstein also bought the neighbouring island of Great St
James, about twice as large at 165 acres, allegedly pretending that
the real buyer was a Dubai businessman named Sultan Ahmed bin
Sulayem. “He wasn’t well received,” one St Thomas resident told the Associated Press. “People think he’s too rich to be policed
properly.”
What was life like on the island?
In the days before his 2008 conviction, Epstein would visit Little
St James two or three times a month, staying several days at a time.
One former employee described it as “a Zen-like retreat” where the financier would stroll around in flip-flops, with “meditative music” playing from speakers and the women often sunbathing topless.
The island had a staff of about 70, from groundskeepers and
gardeners through laundry ladies to on-call boat captains. They wore
black or white polo shirts and were sworn to strict secrecy, with
instructions to stay out of Epstein’s sight when doing their work.
They were also forbidden to enter either of Epstein’s two offices in
the main manor, one of which housed a closely guarded steel safe.
According to The LA Times, Epstein also had an enthusiasm for
“pirate treasure”, his name for old rum bottles and crockery found
about the island. He would pay servants between $100 and $1,000 for
interesting finds in good condition.
“He was a very kind man and, while I don’t approve of things he’s
been accused of, I liked him very much,” Miles Alexander, who
together with his wife Cathy ran the island between 1999 and 2007,
told The Daily Mail. “Our job was about discretion. We have a clear conscience that we didn’t witness anything untoward.”
The South African couple described how Epstein did not like to eat
meals in front of people, instead taking snacks to eat in his room
where he would also receive daily massages. Disturbing him there was “absolutely forbidden”, although they did once find a box of sex
toys while he was out.
Who did Epstein host on his island?
Of course there were always guests. Among the famous names
reportedly hosted by Epstein were theoretical physicist Stephen
Hawking, Nobel laureate Lawrence Krauss, comedian Chris Tucker,
actor Kevin Spacey, Victoria’s Secret magnate Les Wexner, model
Naomi Campbell, former Tony Blair aide Lord Peter Mandelson and
Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom.
It has been claimed that Bill Clinton was also a guest, though he
denies ever having been there. Donald Trump reportedly flew on one
of Epstein’s private jets, but it is unclear if he visited the
island. The magician David Copperfield is even said to have proposed
to supermodel Claudia Schiffer there.
Guests would arrive on one of Epstein’s Gulfstream jets at Cyril E
King Airport on St Thomas, in a private area separate from the main
runway. They would then be shuttled to Little St James on one of
Epstein’s black helicopters.
Epstein was fond of treating the guests, reportedly paying for a
submarine to be modified to give a sea bed tour to Professor
Hawking, who had never been underwater before. One former employee
described it as “like a five star hotel where nobody paid”.
Ms Alexander recalls him slipping her a $350 tip, which was
“unexpected, because other guests didn’t”.
Didn’t anyone notice Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking?
Certainly they did. From the start, locals on St Thomas whispered
darkly about Epstein’s activities, calling his private jets “the
Lolita Express”. When scuba divers swam near the island, security
guards would reportedly appear to patrol the edge of the water.
At one point, Epstein was ferrying about 200 workers back and forth
every day to build his projects. “When he was there, it was keep to
yourself and do your thing,” one of them told the Associated Press,
adding that the mogul would sometimes give away old material or
surplus material.
Airport staff on St Thomas could see who Epstein was bringing with
him on the Express. “On multiple occasions I saw Epstein exit his
helicopter, stand on the tarmac in full view of my tower, and board
his private jet with children – female children,” a former air
traffic controller told Vanity Fair.
“My colleagues and I definitely talked about how we didn’t
understand how this guy was still allowed to be around children. We
didn’t say anything because we figured law enforcement was doing
their job. That is regrettable, but we really didn’t even know who
to tell, or if anyone really cared.”
“I could see him with my own eyes. I compared it to seeing a serial
killer in broad daylight. I called it the face of evil… It was like
he was flaunting it.” Sometimes the girls would be carrying shopping
bags from designer brands such as Gucci and Dior.
The Alexanders also grew suspicious. “They looked like they had
stepped out of an underwear catalogue,” Cathy told The Mail. “They
walked around with very few clothes on or lounged around by the pool
with nothing on. It was like that most of the time. I was concerned
about their ages. A few of them looked very young and I couldn’t
help but wonder if their mothers knew where they were.”
Miles Alexander added that he had sometimes had to refuse Epstein’s
requests to smuggle in female guests by boat without logging their
names and passport numbers with the government of St Thomas.
The couple’s unease grew until they finally quit in 2007. “In our
final meeting, [Epstein] told me I had always been his conscience,”
Alexander said. “I’m certainly battling with my conscience now.”
What really happened on Epstein’s island?
That is the subject of multiple ongoing court cases, but the
accusations are shocking.
According to a lawsuit filed by Prince Andrew’s accuser, Virginia
Roberts Giuffre, Little St James was the centre of a worldwide
grooming scheme in which recruiters working for Epstein targeted
young women who were open to abuse and manipulation, played on their
hopes and fears, dazzled them with “displays of vast weath and
power” and then force them to have sex with clients while keeping
them in line with threats and blackmail.
Ms Giuffre says that Prince Andrew sexually abused her on Little St
James when she was 17, which the prince ”unequivocally denies”.
Andrew and Ms Giuffre settled her lawsuit against him on 15
February, bringing an end to the protracted legal case in New York
court.
“To accomplish his illegal ends, Epstein formed an association with
multiple defendants and others (both companies and individuals, who
were willing to participate in, facilitate, and conceal Epstein’s
criminal activity in exchange for Epstein’s bestowal of financial
and other benefits, including sexual services and forced labour from victims.”
In fact, the complaint describes Little St James as just one step in
a worldwide web of private flights that ferried sex trafficking
victims to London, Paris, Tangier, Granada, St Louis, Palm Beach,
Atlantic City and beyond. It says some victims were as young as 12.
The complaint also alleges that Little St James served as a prison
for the victims, with Epstein controlling all communication with the
outside world. It says one 15-year-old tried to escape by swimming,
but Epstein organised a search party, recaptured her and confiscated
her passport.
“Remember, he owns a whole island,” said attorney general Denise
George in 2020. “So it wasn’t a situation where a child or a young
woman would be able to just break away and run down the street to
the nearest police station.”
One alleged victim told CBS News that she had been raped in
Epstein’s office in St Thomas and that he had a gun strapped to the
bedpost in his bedroom on Little St James. The complaint says
Epstein kept a computerised list of underage girls in or near the
Virgin Islands who could be brought to the island.
Why didn’t anyone do anything?
Authorities made several attempts to investigate Little St James. As
a sex offender, Epstein was required to re-register every year and
officials did try to visit the island in 2018 to verify his address.
But according to the attorney general’s complaint, Epstein refused
the officers entry at the dock, claiming it was his “front door” and insisted on meeting them in his office on St Thomas. He also made
employees sign confidentiality agreements that banned them from
talking to law enforcement and required them to report any inquiries
to Epstein.
“Monitoring a sex offender with his own private islands and the
resources to fly victims in and out on private planes and
helicopters represented unique challenges and allowed the Epstein
Enterprise to limit scrutiny,” the complaint says.
In addition, both Little St James and Great St James are protected
areas due to their coral reefs and wildlife. Local planning
officials suspected Epstein of exceeding his building permits and
the attorney general’s complaint says that he was fined thousands of
dollars for breaking environmental rules, yet that kind of money was
nothing to Epstein.
In fact, the complaint argues that Epstein’s purchase of Great St
James was simply a ruse to hide what was happening on Little St
James. “The Epstein Enterprise purchased the island for more than
$20 million because participants wanted to ensure that it did not
become a base from which others could view their activities or
visitors,” it says.
“Epstein purchased these properties to further shield his conduct
from view, prevent his detection by law enforcement or the public,
and allow him to continue and conceal his criminal enterprise.”
https://newspunch.com/revealed-disney-cruise-charged-kids-75-to- visit-epsteins-pedophile-island/?
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