Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's private island was called 'pedophile island', 'orgy island', and 'island of sin' by local residents
Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was arrested this week for allegedly sexually abusing underage children, had bought an island in the Virgin Islands named Little St. James Island more than two decades ago. The locals, however, called it something else - they knew it as "pedophile island". Other nicknames included "orgy island", and "island of sin".
The island is tucked away between St. Thomas and St. John Islands and is spread over 78-acres. "Everybody called it pedophile island", St. Thomas boat operator Kevin Goodrich told The Associated Press.
The workers on the island had to reportedly sign non-disclosure agreements. "It’s our dark corner. When he was there, it was keep to yourself and do your thing," one of the workers told the news agency. He said he had seen young girls who did not look old enough there - but, they had to keep their mouths shut.
Epstein also gave away his old machinery and extra wood to the workers. "He wasn’t well-received", said St. Thomas native Spencer Consolvo. “People think he’s too rich to be policed properly.”
Epstein's property also featured a temple-like structure that had some strange features for such a thing, Insider reported. The structure seems to want to keep people inside and prevent them from escaping. James Both, a contractor and engineer based in Chicago, said: "It's styled like what you might see on a castle, with what appears to be a reinforcing lock bar across the face," he said. "What makes it peculiar is that if you wanted to keep people out, the bar would be placed inside the building, [but the] locking bar appears to be placed on the outside... as if it were intended to lock people in," he added.
Vernon Morgan, a taxi driver and St. Thomas native, said he had changed the way people looked at the Islands. "It brought some kind of notoriety to the Virgin Islands,” he said. “We would much rather that the Virgin Islands be seen in a different light," he said.
Epstein, who has been accused of sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of minor girls at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, from 2002 to 2005, pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking on Monday at the Manhattan federal court.