- Employees at the airport on St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands, said they witnessed Jeffrey Epstein flying to his private island with girls who seemed underage.
- “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,” one former air traffic controller told Vanity Fair.
- Epstein has been charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy. He is pleading not guilty.
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Two workers at the airstrip on St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands, said they witnessed Jeffrey Epstein brazenly flying to his private island with young girls after he became a convicted pedophile and had to register as a sex offender.
The financier owns a 70-acre private island in the Caribbean named Little St. James. In order to get to it, Epstein would fly on one of his two Gulfstream jets to St. Thomas and then take a helicopter the rest of the journey.
One current worker and one former air traffic controller at the airstrip in St. Thomas told Vanity Fair on Saturday that they often saw the 66-year-old traveling to the island with groups of girls who looked under the age of consent.
“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, who asked to remain anonymous, told the magazine.
They continued: "One incident in particular really stands out in my mind, because the girls were just so young. They couldn't have been over 16. Epstein looked very angry and hurled his jacket at one of them. They were also carrying shopping bags from stores not on the island. I remember thinking, 'Where in the world have they been shopping?'"
Another worker, who asked to remain anonymous as well, said Epstein would pass through St. Thomas about twice a month. He said the girls looked "like they could be in high school" and that they would often be wearing college sweatshirts.
"It seemed like camouflage, that's the best way to put it," he told Vanity Fair.
The frequency that they saw Epstein traveling with girls became a joke among co-workers, the employee said.
"Every time he landed or took off, it was always brought up. We'd always be joking, 'How many kids are on board this time?'" the employee told the magazine.
But the worker said it was no laughing matter. He said he felt "pure disgust" over the situation and compared it to "seeing a serial killer in broad daylight."
"The fact that young girls were getting out of his helicopter and getting into his plane, it was like he was flaunting it," the employee said. "But it was said that he always tipped really well, so everyone overlooked it."
Earlier this month, Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
Read the full story from Vanity Fair »
- Read more:
- Inside the relationship of Trump and convicted sex offender Epstein, from party buddies to 'not a fan'
- Judge denies Jeffrey Epstein's bail request, so the wealthy financier will have to wait in jail for his trial on sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy charges
- Ghislaine Maxwell abruptly torpedoed her oceanic non-profit in the wake of the scandal surrounding her associate Jeffrey Epstein
- Jeffrey Epstein reportedly used $128,000 from his nonprofit science foundation to pay the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office for off-duty deputies who guarded him during his work release
