Topline
A model recruiter under investigation for allegedly connecting sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to several young women who later said they were abused by him was found dead in his home near Paris this week, prosecutors reported Wednesday.
Jeffrey Epstein at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 1995.
Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Key Facts
Daniel Siad, 69, was a French modelling scout who is said to have spent 10 years connecting Epstein with women and who continued associating with him and inviting him to fashion events after Epstein’s 2008 conviction of sex crimes.
Siad’s name appears more than 1,000 times in the declassified Epstein files and the documents show Epstein paid tens of thousands of dollars to Siad, who sent Epstein emails about women he may like to meet.
“Cute French girl in Marrakesh…“ one message said, and in another Siad sent Epstein a photo of a woman he said had “potential” as a “model” or “assistant” to which Epstein replied, “Too old.”
Two women, former Swedish model Ebba Karlsson and former French model Juliette G., said they were spotted by Siad and presented respectively to U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Karlsson has said she was raped and sexually exploited in the 1990s by people connected to Epstein’s network, and Juliette G. accused Siad of grooming, claiming she was flown to New York and taken to a bedroom with Epstein, who then groped her and old her that her body did not meet modeling standards.
Siad also faced separate allegations of rape and sexual violence made by multiple women.
He had denied the allegations and was in line to be questioned by investigators.
SURPRISING FACT
Siad wasn’t the only model scout connected to Epstein—or the first to be found dead. French authorities arrested modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel in 2020 after allegations that he had also found women for Epstein. Brunel was found dead in prison in 2022.
Key background
Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking, relied on a network of employees, associates and victims to recruit girls and young women, with federal law enforcement agents alleging the system was designed to ensure he had a “steady supply” of underage victims. Prosecutors alleged that employees, friends and several victims themselves were pressured or incentivized to bring new recruits into his orbit. Recruiters often approached girls in schools, malls and other public places, offering cash for what was initially described as a massage, with additional payments if they referred friends. Federal prosecutors said the recruitment system helped Epstein abuse hundreds of victims over decades, while some recruiters later said they had themselves been manipulated, exploited or coerced by Epstein into participating.