(Daily Mail) Jeffrey Epstein‘s ‘pedophile island’ has been snapped up for $60 million by a billionaire with plans to transform it into a luxury, five-star resort.
Stephen Deckoff, the entrepreneur and investor behind the project, will develop a 25-room retreat across the islands of Little St James and Great St James, in the US Virgin Islands, with the aim of a grand opening by 2025.
But Deckoff might find that constructing his ‘dream’ resort with such an ambitious timeline is the easy part. Much more difficult will be convincing wealthy tourists to spend their downtime on an island once used by Epstein to rape and abuse young women.
Little St James was dubbed ‘Pedophile Island’ by residents of the US Virgin Islands during the blatant, wholesale abuse conducted by Epstein after he bought the isle in 1998 for $7.5 million. He bought Great St James, the larger island beside it, in 2016 for $22.5 million to protect his privacy.
It was revealed on Wednesday that Deckoff has purchased both for $60 million. Announcing his vision for the islands, Deckoff emphasized that he never met Epstein and visited the islands for the first time after they were listed for sale.
Little St James (pictured) and the neighboring island of Great St James have been purchased for $60 million by billionaire Stephen Deckoff. The islands used to belong to Jeffrey Epstein and Little St James was dubbed ‘pedophile island’ after Epstein used to it abuse underage girls
Epstein threw parties for the rich and famous on Little St James, with celebrities from Prince Andrew to Stephen Hawking among his guests. Pictured: Jeffrey Epstein is massaged by his assistant Sarah Kellen at his private island
The troubling past of Little St James has been widely documented in photographs, victim testimony and court cases against Epstein and his associates.
Epstein – with help from his confidante and fixer Ghislaine Maxwell – trafficked many young girls to the island, where they were raped and abused.
Photographs previously published by DailyMail.com show young girls posing on the paradise island, or giving massages to Epstein while makes telephone calls.
Maxwell is seen in other pictures being waited on by the legion of staff who Epstein recruited to manage the island.
Epstein is said to have imported 200 workers after his purchase of the island to build a stone mansion, two guest houses, a helipad and a bizarre gold-domed structure that resembles a temple.
The temple structure was built between 2009 and 2013 but it remains unclear what the building was for.
The sprawling property Epstein had built on Little St James, with surrounding lawns and swimming pool. In the background, a jetty reaches out into the clear, blue water
The main property on Little St James is surrounded by several other structures including the maids’ quarters and a massive, square-shaped white building on one end of the island that some say is a music room fitted with acoustic walls
Ghislaine Maxwell is pictured having a meal at Epstein’s mansion on Little St James Island in this undated photo
In another picture taken on the island, Maxwell sits at a large marble table while a man takes a phone call
Several of Epstein’s victims have recalled the abuse and suffering they faced on the island.
Sarah Ransome, a British victim of Epstein, claimed she was raped up to three times a day during months imprisoned there.
She says she was so determined to escape that she hatched a plan to swim the surrounding shark-infested waters. However she was spotted on the video cameras Epstein installed across the island and stopped by his cronies.
Chauntae Davies, another accuser, said Epstein raped her before bragging about his relationship with Prince Andrew. Davies said the disgraced financier became a ‘monster’ behind closed doors.
Prince Andrew has admitted he has visited the island, but always maintained he was not aware of Epstein’s crimes and never took part in anything illegal.
Davies said she fell into Epstein’s clutches when she was a 21-year-old trainee massage therapist in Los Angeles and treated Ghislaine Maxwell at Beverly Hills’ Four Seasons Hotel.
Davies later worked as Epstein’s masseuse and as an air hostess on his private plane the ‘Lolita Express’.
Epstein abused underage girls on the island with the help of his confidante Ghislaine Maxwell
