Jeffrey Epstein's former 'assistant' reveals terrifying reality of life inside circle

A woman who says she spent years working as one of Jeffrey Epstein’s “assistants” has shared a harrowing account of the alleged abuse, manipulation and coercive control she says she experienced inside the late financier’s inner circle.

Speaking in an interview with the BBC, the woman, identified only as Anya, claimed she was lured into Epstein’s world with promises of a modelling career before becoming trapped in what she described as an “ecosystem of abuse.”

Anya said she was recruited in her early twenties after meeting modelling scout Daniel Siad in Paris, who introduced her to Epstein. She alleged the disgraced financier built her trust over many months by offering career opportunities before gradually taking control of almost every aspect of her life.

According to Anya, Epstein controlled her finances, monitored who she saw, dictated where she lived and made her dependent on him while subjecting her to repeated sexual abuse.

“He was like a cult leader,” she claimed, adding that although she was never physically restrained, “the chains were less obvious, but they were there.”

She also alleged Epstein psychologically manipulated the women working for him, encouraging them to compete with one another while convincing them he was their only source of support.

Anya claimed she was pressured into unnecessary surgery to remove a small tattoo because Epstein disliked it, leaving permanent scars. She also said he gathered compromising material on the women, including intimate photographs and videos, which she believed discouraged them from speaking out.

The former assistant said she was eventually persuaded to recruit other young women, describing it as the “most shameful” part of her experience.

“It’s one or 10, you’re already complicit,” she said.

Her allegations echo testimony given earlier this year by former Epstein assistant Sarah Kellen to the US House Oversight Committee, where Kellen described becoming financially and emotionally dependent on Epstein and said he destroyed her sense of autonomy.

Epstein died in a New York jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

Anya said she decided to speak publicly in the hope her story would help others recognise the warning signs of coercive control and abusive relationships.

“I’m not in any way special,” she said. “I just somehow managed to find this strength in me to persevere and to survive. If I can do it, you can do it.”