'' He liked the fear in our eyes,'' Epstein victims speak out

Five women. One room. And years of silence shattered.

Survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have spoken together publicly for the first time, delivering a raw and emotional account of the abuse they say shaped their lives. In a powerful discussion filmed for BBC Newsnight, the women described fear, anger and grief as they revisited memories of the disgraced financier and the world of power and privilege that surrounded him.

For Joanna Harrison, speaking out was never the plan. But after the US government released millions of investigation documents—some of which accidentally revealed the identities of victims—she felt she had no choice.

“It gets to a point where you're being suffocated and you need to breathe,” Harrison told the programme. “I feel this is my way of trying to breathe.”

The group gathered for hours of conversation. There were supportive hugs, shared glances of recognition—and moments of tears as they looked at photographs of themselves from the time they first encountered Epstein.

Those images captured girls and young women who had no idea what was coming.

Harrison said she met Epstein in Florida when she was 18. Like many others, the interaction began with what appeared to be a simple massage. “Everything seemed normal,” she recalled.

But the situation quickly turned disturbing. When Epstein began masturbating, Harrison said she froze completely and barely spoke during the car ride home.

Later, she said, Epstein raped her on his birthday.

Now speaking publicly for the first time, Harrison said she believes true justice may never arrive.

Epstein died in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide by the medical examiner, but Harrison says many questions remain unanswered. “I have questions I’ll never get an answer to,” she said.

Another survivor, Chauntae Davies, revealed photographs from a trip aboard Epstein’s private plane to Africa—images never seen before by the public. Among those pictured were Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, actor Kevin Spacey and former US President Bill Clinton. The group was travelling on a humanitarian trip promoting AIDS prevention.

Davies described the journey as surreal.

“It was the most eclectic group of people that you could put together,” she said. The trip involved visits to five countries in five days, with passengers eating snacks, playing cards and sharing stories on board.

“It was very much a once-in-a-lifetime trip,” she added. “Unfortunately it had to be tainted by what was happening behind closed doors.”

Davies has previously said Epstein raped her on his private island, Little St James, after she was hired as a massage therapist.

She also recalled giving Clinton a neck and back massage at an airport in Portugal while the plane refuelled. At the time she wrote in her journal that the former president seemed “humble, kind and charismatic”.

Clinton later told a US House Oversight Committee deposition that he wished Davies had told him about Epstein’s behaviour. But Davies said that was never something she considered. “I was never going to speak about this with anyone,” she said.

Looking back, she wondered whether it would have made any difference.

“What would he have done, really? Could he have stopped it? I guess we’ll never know.”

Attention is now returning to another location frequently mentioned by survivors: Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico.

Earlier this year, allegations in Justice Department files prompted the state to reopen a criminal investigation into activities there. A previous probe had been shelved in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York

. Davies said the ranch holds some of her darkest memories.

“That’s where the majority of the assaults happened,” she said, describing the property as cold, dark and eerie.

Another survivor, Lisa Phillips, agreed. “I remember thinking this place is really creepy,” she said.

Davies believes there is still much more to uncover about what happened there.

The women also spoke about Epstein’s connections to powerful figures. Davies said he often bragged about influential acquaintances, including claims that he had lent money to Sarah Ferguson.

Photographs of Ferguson with her former husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and their daughters were displayed at Epstein’s properties, Davies said.

Phillips described a story told by a friend who she says was instructed by Epstein to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor at his New York apartment in 2003. The friend has never spoken publicly and remains anonymous. Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Phillips said she later asked Epstein why he had arranged the encounter. According to her, he simply smirked.

“I like to have things on people,” he allegedly replied.

Phillips believes Epstein thrived on fear. “He liked the fear in our eyes,” she said. “I think he liked that we were frozen and scared.”

She has now urged UK police to speak with her about what she says she knows.

The discussion also touched on the long shadow Epstein’s actions have cast over survivors’ lives.

Jena-Lisa Jones and Wendy Pesante first met him when they were just 14 years old. They were friends then—and remain close today after surviving what they describe as years of abuse.

“When you go through something like that so young it distorts your reality,” Pesante said.

During the interview, each woman was handed a photograph of herself taken at the time she met Epstein. The moment was devastating.

Looking at her image from age 18, Harrison quietly reflected on what had changed. “I don’t smile the same way anymore,” she said.

Phillips had a similar reaction as she examined a picture of herself on a boat—unaware at the time that Epstein’s island appeared in the background. “I was enjoying my life,” she said. “I had no idea what was about to happen to me.”

“This is not what I looked like when I left the island.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy81n9wexx6o