Where Is Jeffrey Epstein's Private Island, Little St. James?
Nearly 11 months after Jeffrey Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey on multiple charges related to sex trafficking, a new Netflix documentary called Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, explores his life and crimes, and allows victims to tell their side of the story. One episode of the four-part series focuses primarily on Epstein's private island in the Caribbean. Here's what we know about the place which Epstein referred to as "Little St. Jeff's," but some locals called "Pedophile Island."
Where is the island?
Little Saint James is a roughly 70-acre island located off the coast of St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands.
Epstein purchased Little St. James in 1998.
According to the New York Times, he paid $7.95 million for the property and had Ed Tuttle, an architect known for his work on luxury resorts, design a compound there. In 2016, Epstein bought the larger Great St. James (a roughly 165-acre island also off the coast of St. Thomas) for $17.5 million. Per the Virgin Islands Daily News, he was planning to build a complex there.
In addition to visiting the islands, Epstein registered businesses in the US Virgin Islands, a tax haven. He also filed his will there, just two days before he died.
The islands were by no means his only properties. He owned a 40-room Beaux Arts townhouse in Manhattan; a large ranch in New Mexico; a home in Palm Beach, Florida; and an apartment in Paris.
Little St. James was considered Epstein's primary residence when he died.
Several women featured in the documentary allege that they were trafficked by Epstein while on the island. “It really is orgy island, because that’s what happened there. That is what that island meant to me,” says Virginia Roberts Giuffre in the film.
According to the Miami Herald, Epstein's "plane records show that during the time he was abusing young girls, he was flying former President Bill Clinton, Harvard professors and administrators, Nobel-prize winning scientists, actresses, actors, philanthropists and a who’s who of wealthy and powerful people to his island."
The documentary alleges that both Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton visited.
Jeffrey Epstein had a number of high-profile associates, who have distanced themselves from the convicted sex offender since his arrest and subsequent death. But the Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich claims that both Bill Clinton and the Queen's second son, Prince Andrew, were seen on the island.
"Bill Clinton has been on that island. I saw Bill Clinton sitting with Jeffrey on the living room porch," says Steve Scully, a former Epstein employee who served as an IT worker on the island, says in the documentary.
Giuffre also notes having seen Clinton on the island in the film. "I remember having dinner with Clinton. He was there, and I never saw him do anything improper. I wish he would just come clean about 'Yeah I was there, so what, who cares? I didn't see anything going on.'"
But the former president denies having ever been to the island.
“He’s not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade, and has never been to Little Saint James island, Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico, or his residence in Florida,” Clinton’s press secretary said in a statement.
Scully also alleges in the documentary that he saw Prince Andrew on the island, groping Giuffre by the pool. Buckingham Palace has issued a number of statements refuting allegations that Prince Andrew behaved inappropriately including this one from September of 2019:
"It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation."
In his sit-down interview with Newsnight last November, Prince Andrew also said he has "no recollection of ever meeting [Giuffre.] None, whatsoever."
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