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Former model tells Sun how Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused her on the island

Former model tells Sun how Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused her on the island

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Alarm bells rang for Lisa Phillips when she saw a much older man frolicking in the pool with two teenage girls.

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She told that Toronto Sunthe man in the pool was Prince Andrew.

On this day in 1999, Phillips, now 46 and a former top model, met the man who would shape her life, for better or worse.

“I was in the Bahamas for a photo shoot and we had a day off,” Phillips said Sun. “We were sent a boat and I saw it as an opportunity to relax and hang out with the other models.

“When we got there there was an older man in the pool with young girls, he was dark-haired. I thought it was kind of strange,” she said, adding that the models were escorted to their rooms to rest and dinner was served three hours later.

That’s when she met her host, billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein.

“Jeffrey asked a lot of questions about me. I had never experienced such a cultured man paying me so much attention. It felt really good,” Phillips said.

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“Then he asked us, ‘Do you want to meet a real prince?’ and we all nodded yes. Prince Andrew came in. It was a pleasant evening.”

“Jeffrey was so great and brilliant.”

This point of view should change.

Jeffery Epstein's estate on Little Saint James Island
Jeffery Epstein’s estate on Little Saint James Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, referred to by some as “pedophile island,” is pictured on July 9, 2019. Photo by Gianfranco Gaglione /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

***

Today, Phillips is a divorced mother of two living in Los Angeles and a scout for Select Models. She has become an advocate for the fight against human trafficking through her podcast From now on to “tell their story and amplify the voices of other survivors.”

***

The young mannequins retired to their rooms for the night. Then there was an ominous knock at the door.

“One of his employees said that Jeffrey was ready for his massage. ‘What massage?’ I said I didn’t know how to do it,” Phillips recalled.

When Phillips and another young model entered, Epstein was lying naked on the table.

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This July 27, 2006 arrest photo provided by the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office in Florida shows Jeffrey Epstein.
This July 27, 2006, arrest photo provided by the Palm Beach, Florida, Sheriff’s Office shows Jeffrey Epstein. AP

“It was really strange. He was kind of playful, giggling and asking us more personal questions. Then he started playing with himself. He did a 360-degree turn and became Jekyll and Hyde…he told us, ‘You’re going to do something for me,'” Phillips said.

She had never been in a threesome with another woman. As the sexual assault unfolded, Phillips said nothing. She was “frozen”. Luckily there was no intrusion.

And she was trapped on Epstein’s island. There was no escape. She did everything, stayed in her room and waited for the boat.

“I was very afraid that he would come for me,” she said, adding that she was only 21 at the time. She hadn’t heard the last of Jeffrey Epstein.

***

Back in the Big Apple, Epstein’s secretary began calling every week. Eventually, the billionaire contacted Phillips.

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THE GANG IS ALL HERE: Jeffrey Epstein, from left, Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew are pictured in archive photos.
THE GANG IS ALL HERE: Jeffrey Epstein, from left, Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew are pictured in archive photos. Photo by file photos /Getty Images

“He called four months later and told me, ‘I want to make it up to you.’ What do you want to do?’ I told him I wanted to be a Ford model. He brought me to Ford Models, he was a friend of Katie Ford,” she said.

But now she felt compelled to meet Epstein and go to parties and events with him.

“I was good at modeling, but now I was at the next level. “Epstein could make a difference for girls,” she said, adding that Epstein would fund some young women’s college educations or help them with their careers.

With Epstein, however, it was a two-way street. There were sexual favors for his group of like-minded friends.

“A friend said she had to have sex with Prince Andrew. I saw him on the island and some girls said they treated some men badly,” Phillips said.

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Jeffrey Epstein survivor Lisa Phillips. LISA PHILLIPS
Jeffrey Epstein survivor Lisa Phillips. LISA PHILLIPS

Prince Andrew has denied any wrongdoing.

Jeffrey Epstein told the young model, “He liked to have things with him.”

“He videotaped everything. I was shocked and literally had a breakdown,” she said.

***

Epstein’s former girlfriend and second banana in the sex trafficking sweepstakes, Ghislaine Maxwell, was now largely out of the picture. Phillips said she met the disgraced socialite several times, including once with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.

“She was like Epstein, obsessed with sex and a real talker,” Phillips said.

Ultimately, the 66-year-old financier was arrested at a private airport in New Jersey in July 2019 and hit with a number of sex trafficking charges.

A picture from 60 Minutes of the torn piece of prison laundry that Jeffrey Epstein allegedly used to hang himself.
A picture from 60 Minutes of the torn piece of prison laundry that Jeffrey Epstein allegedly used to hang himself. Photo from 60 MINUTES

Phillips said she believes that up until the moment Epstein subdued himself in his Manhattan jail cell (or perhaps not), the hedge fund manager probably believed he would let the charges go.

“I think he thought he could get away with it,” she said. “That’s why he recorded everything: to make himself untouchable. Jeffrey thought he was smarter than everyone else.”

Epstein was not the mental patient he thought he was when he met his messy end.

Lisa Phillips’ podcast, From Now On, is available here.

[email protected]

@HunterTOSun

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