Multiple women who identified themselves as victims have spoken to police since the French probe began in 2019,and at times expressed frustration with the slow pace of the investigation.
One of them,Thysia Huisman,said on Saturday that the news of Brunel’s death sent her into “shock.”
“It makes me angry,because I’ve been fighting for years,” Huisman,a Dutch former model who told police she was drugged and raped by Brunel as a teen,told The Associated Press. “For me,the end of this was to be in court. And now that whole ending — which would help form closure — is taken away from me.”
A lawyer representing Huisman and other victims,Anne-Claire Le Jeune,said other women involved in the case feel the same.
“Great disappointment,great frustration that[the victims] won’t get justice,” she told The AP.
She expressed doubt that the investigation would lead to a trial,because Brunel was so central to the case. She also voiced concerns that Brunel’s death means his accusers won’t get any official recognition of their status as victims.
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“To rebuild yourself[after abuse],that is one of the essential steps,” Huisman said.
She expressed hope that Brunel’s death won’t discourage women from continuing to speak out about abuse. The investigation,along with a growing reckoning about sexual misconduct in France,has “freed up women to talk about it,” she said. “It’s a difficult step that requires a lot of courage and strength.”
Brunel was named in US court filings,too. The spokesperson for the prosecutors who charged Epstein in New York declined comment on Brunel’s death.
For Giuffre and other victims,the news of Brunel’s death was “devastating,” according a statement from her lawyer,Sigrid McCawley.
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Guiffre herself tweeted:“The suicide of Jean-Luc Brunel,who abused me and countless girls and young women,ends another chapter. I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to face him in a final trial to hold him accountable,but gratified that I was able to testify in person last year to keep him in prison.”
McCawley said Brunel’s death did not end the search for justice.
“For the women who have stood up and called for accountability from law enforcement around the world,it is not how these men died,but how they lived,and the damage they caused to so many. The fight to seek truth and justice goes on,” McCawley said.
Britain’s Prince Andrew recently agreed to settle a case in which Giuffre accused him of sexual abuse when she was 17. Guiffre says she was supplied to Andrew by Epstein,charges that Andrew denies. The settlement,in which Andrew agreed to make a substantial donation to Giuffre’s charity,avoids a trial.
AP
Crisis support can be found at Lifeline:(13 11 14 and lifeline.org.au),the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467 and suicidecallbackservice.org.au) and beyondblue (1300 22 4636 and beyondblue.org.au).