Control, threats, disfiguring surgery: My life inside Jeffrey Epstein's 'cult'

Anya, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, has shared a rare account of life within the financier's alleged "cult," detailing the pervasive control and manipulation he exerted over his victims. Speaking to the BBC, Anya described how Epstein housed women he abused, demanding their constant availability and subjecting them to regular sexual abuse.

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I'm still struggling to reconcile with the fact that I was abused for years. You were not chained to a door or something, right? You were not locked up in a basement. The chains were less obvious, but they were there.

Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting sex-trafficking charges, "used to say that his operation was 'like a cult, and he was the cult leader'," Anya recounted. She explained that "assistants" – a group of about a dozen women – were drawn in by "elaborate deceptions and empty promises of work." Once ensnared, Epstein allegedly controlled nearly every aspect of their lives, exploiting vulnerabilities to maintain a tight grip.

Anya detailed how Epstein controlled their finances, dictated their social interactions, and psychologically demeaned them. He also "monitored their bodies obsessively," she said, even forcing her to undergo "unnecessary, disfiguring surgery." Her experience highlights how coercion can be subtle, with "chains" that are "less obvious, but they were there."

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his operation was 'like a cult, and he was the cult leader'

Another former assistant, Sarah Kellen, corroborated this account, telling the U.S. House Oversight Committee that Epstein presented himself as a savior while "decimating your ability to make your own decisions and have your own autonomy." Clinical psychologist Dr. Tara Quinn-Cirillo noted that susceptibility to such grooming and coercion is not limited to children, emphasizing that adults can also be vulnerable.

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He was very good at just decimating your ability to make your own decisions and have your own autonomy. And it made you more and more dependent on him.

After a 2008 conviction for abusing a teenage girl, Epstein shifted his focus to adult women, many from Eastern Europe. Anya, who grew up in Russia and pursued a modeling career in Europe, showed photos of herself at the time to demonstrate how she and other recruits still appeared youthful, despite being adults.

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you can be groomed as an adult. You can be vulnerable to this.