New pictures show what Jeffrey Epstein’s private ‘paedo island’ looks like now
Brand new pictures have captured how Jeffrey Epstein’s private island looks now – as its new owner hopes to build a resort there.
Disgraced financier Epstein bought Little St James in the Virgin Islands in 1998 for a reported £6 million – and he turned it into a paedophile’s haven, trafficking his victims there.
Recruiters working for him – including Ghislaine Maxwell – targeted young women to be raped and abused by Epstein on the island, where their passports were taken away and there was no escape.
The attorney-general of the US Virgin Islands later described it as ‘the perfect hideaway and haven for trafficking young women and underage girls for sexual servitude, child abuse and sexual assault’.
After more than a year on the market following Epstein’s death, Little St James and its sister island Great St James were bought last year by Stephen Deckoff.
Mr Deckoff is founder of private equity firm Black Diamond Capital Management, and reportedly paid around £47 million for the two islands – less than half of the initial asking price.
He is planning to build a 25-room luxury resort on the islands – and he insisted that he had never met Epstein and had never been to the islands until they went up for sale after his death.
But what does the island look like now?
New aerial pictures, taken last week, show the state of Little St James now, with buildings looking grubby and untidy due to a lack of maintenance.
It’s certainly nothing like it was when Epstein bought it, as he immediately scoured away all of the native vegetation and replaced the flora and fauna with huge palm trees.
In 2007 he began a major building and remodelling programme, almost doubling the size of the main compound and adding terraces, cottages, swimming pools, beach houses, docks, utility buildings, a tennis court, an enclosed lake or lagoon, and various huts.
One of the weirdest buildings on the island was known as a ‘temple’ – a blue and white striped building which had a golden dome and two gold statues on the roof.
The ‘temple’ differed greatly from the planned music pavilion submitted for approval in 2010 by Epstein’s architects.
It should have been octagonal in shape and have two side rooms extending from the outer walls.
There was a locking bar placed across one of the doors and it was supposedly soundproofed, meaning speculation about its purpose was rife.
But an investigation by Business Insider concluded it was most likely a private study and music room for Epstein’s use.
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