Brazil and other South American countries – International recruitment via Brunel: Jean-Luc Brunel and Maxwell were reported to have scouted young women in Brazil (such as resorts in Santa Catarina) and other South American countries, bringing them into the network from Latin America and Eastern Europe l

She was 15, dancing barefoot on the golden sands of a Santa Catarina resort in Brazil, laughing with friends under the southern sun when a sharply dressed European scout approached with a dazzling smile. “You have the look we love in Paris and New York,” Jean-Luc Brunel told her, offering photoshoots, travel, and the chance to escape small-town life forever. Her family wept with pride as she boarded the plane.

What followed was no fairy tale. Brunel, working closely with Ghislaine Maxwell, targeted vulnerable young women across Brazil’s beach resorts, modeling events, and other South American countries—alongside Eastern Europe—promising fame while trafficking them straight into Jeffrey Epstein’s international web of abuse.

Glamour masked a cold, calculated hunt that crossed oceans and shattered dreams.

The breadth of this Latin American pipeline—and how many girls were lured away never to return the same—still stuns those uncovering the full scope of the operation.

She was 15, dancing barefoot on the golden sands of a Santa Catarina resort in Brazil, laughing with friends under the southern sun. A sharply dressed European scout approached with a dazzling smile. “You have the look we love in Paris and New York,” Jean-Luc Brunel told her, offering photoshoots, international travel, and the chance to escape small-town life forever. Her family wept with pride as she boarded the plane, convinced she was stepping into a fairy tale of fame and fortune.

What followed was no fairy tale. Brunel, a prominent French model scout and founder of MC2 Model Management, worked closely with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein to target vulnerable young women across Brazil’s beach resorts, modeling events, and other parts of South America—alongside longstanding operations in Eastern Europe. Promising stardom in high fashion, he lured girls with dreams of runway lights and magazine covers, only to traffic them into Epstein’s international web of sexual exploitation.

Reports from 2019 traced Brunel to Brazil shortly before Epstein’s arrest, with his phone pinging at the Infinity Blue Resort and Spa in Santa Catarina—a location fitting the pattern of scouting in tourist-heavy beach areas where young, aspiring women gathered. Scouts like Brunel approached girls at resorts, parties, and local castings, exploiting economic hardship and the allure of escaping modest circumstances. Once selected, victims were flown to Europe or the U.S., often through MC2’s Paris or Miami branches, where initial “test shoots” or agency housing quickly turned coercive.

Survivor accounts and investigations reveal a cold, calculated hunt. Brunel allegedly supplied girls to Epstein, who paid substantial sums—sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars—to MC2 under the guise of legitimate modeling fees. In reality, many faced grooming, forced “massages,” sexual abuse, and pressure to recruit others. The global pipeline spanned continents: from Brazilian beaches to Parisian offices, New York townhouses, Palm Beach mansions, and Epstein’s private island. French authorities charged Brunel in 2020 with rape of minors over 15, sexual harassment, and human trafficking linked to Epstein’s crimes, underscoring his role in facilitating the abuse.

The glamour of fashion masked ruthless predation. Girls from vulnerable backgrounds saw plane tickets and promises as lifelines; instead, they encountered isolation, manipulation, and violation far from home. Some never returned the same—trauma lingered long after any brief “career” ended. Media investigations, including by The Guardian and Miami Herald, highlighted how Epstein’s network extended to Central and South America, with recruitment and alleged abuse occurring in these regions.

Brunel died by suicide in a Paris prison in 2022 while awaiting trial, closing one chapter but leaving many questions unanswered. The breadth of this Latin American pipeline—how many girls were lured across oceans, their dreams shattered—continues to stun survivors, investigators, and the public. It exposed how predators exploited ambition in developing regions, using wealth and industry prestige to cross borders undetected.

This dark chapter reminds us that behind glossy promises of escape often lies calculated exploitation, crossing continents to prey on the hopeful and vulnerable. Justice remains incomplete, but the stories demand remembrance and vigilance against such hidden networks.