PARIS — Paris prosecutors opened two new investigations Wednesday into potential sex abuse crimes and financial wrongdoing linked to Jeffrey Epstein and called on possible victims to come forward.
Paris prosecutor Laurence Beccuau said investigators will rely on files released by the U.S. administration related to the late financier and convicted sex offender, as well as media reports and new complaints that are being filed.
One investigation will focus on sex abuse crimes, the other on financial wrongdoing, each involving specialized magistrates, Beccuau said.
A man walks his dog Aug.13, 2019, next to an apartment building owned by Jeffrey Epstein in Paris.
The move comes after the release by the U.S. Justice Department of more than 3 million pages of documents, as well as thousands of videos and photos related to Epstein, who died behind bars in 2019.
"These publications will inevitably reactivate the trauma of certain victims," she said. "We are convinced that some (victims) are not necessarily known to us, and that perhaps these publications will lead them to come forward."
Meanwhile, British police forces said Wednesday they're working together to assess potential crimes revealed in documents from the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into Epstein, including allegations of wrongdoing by the former Prince Andrew.
Commuters walk past a bus stop July 17 as activists put up a poster showing President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein near the US Embassy in London.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council, which brings together police leaders from across the U.K., said it set up a national coordination group to support forces looking into issues arising from the documents released late last month.
Police in Surrey, the county south of London, said Wednesday the documents contained allegations of sex trafficking in the village of Virginia Water between 1994 and 1996. The force didn’t provide any details about the alleged perpetrators or victims.
The force also encouraged anyone with information about the alleged crimes to contact police.
A document that was included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, photographed Feb. 10, shows a photo of Epstein on a inmate report from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
In Paris, Beccuau called on victims who may have never spoken up before to file formal complaints or make witness accounts to feed French and foreign investigations.
Beccuau also said some material from old investigations will be revisited in the light of new revelations.
She was referring to the investigation into a French modeling agent, Jean-Luc Brunel, accused of rape and sex trafficking minors.
The probe was closed in 2022 after he was found dead in his jail cell in Paris. Brunel, a frequent companion of Epstein, was considered central to the French investigation into alleged sexual exploitation of women and girls by Epstein and his circle.
Epstein traveled often to France and had apartments in Paris.
Britain's Prince Andrew, left, and Britain's King Charles III leave after the Requiem Mass service for the Duchess of Kent on Sept. 16 at Westminster Cathedral in London.
In France, the highest-profile figure impacted by the recent release of the Epstein files in France is former Culture Minister Jack Lang, 86, who stepped down this month as head of the Arab World Institute in Paris over suspicions of tax fraud.
The financial prosecutors' office opened an investigation into Lang and his daughter Caroline Lang's alleged links to Jeffrey Epstein through an offshore company based in the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea.
Epstein
In a separate case, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot last week said he informed prosecutors of allegations involving a senior French diplomat, Fabrice Aidan, in relation with the Epstein files.
"I am also launching an administrative investigation … and a disciplinary procedure," Barrot said in a post on social media, without providing details on allegations.
Aidan's name is mentioned more than 200 times in the Epstein files, with exchanges dating back to 2010 when he worked at the United Nations, suggesting he shared diplomatic documents with the American financier.
Emails also show Aidan's apparent close relationship with Terje Rød-Larsen, a high-profile Norwegian diplomat who, along with his wife, faces scrutiny over contacts with Epstein.
Aidan's lawyer Jade Dousselin said in a written statement her client denies wrongdoing.
