Jeffrey Epstein made some of his victims perform semi-clothed catwalk auditions, newly-released videos suggest.
The convicted sex offender, who was found hanged in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, was sent numerous clips of young women who appear to be auditioning as models.
The footage lends evidence to the theory that the paedophile lured young girls into his control by masquerading as a Victoria's Secret talent scout.
The videos, understood to be seized from the disgraced financier's computer by US authorities, were published as part of the latest tranche of three million Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
While it is unclear whether the young women who appear in the clips are Epstein's victims, in almost all cases their faces are blacked out, and some of their voices are muted to conceal their identities.
In 1997, the serial sex offender assaulted model and aspiring actress Alicia Arden at a hotel in Santa Monica, after he told the 27-year-old he was a talent scout for Victoria's Secret.
When Arden arrived at his hotel room for what she thought was an audition for the brand's catalog, Epstein grabbed her, tried to undress her and said he wanted to 'manhandle' her, causing her to run away in tears.
According to more documents released by the DOJ, Epstein ordered staff to install hidden cameras in his residences after being told 'the Russians may come in handy'.
The disturbing clips convey the global reach of Epstein's power, with young women sending their audition tapes from locations across the world.
In one video, a potential victim poses in bare legs and high heals with a hand on her hip. Another shows a woman in lingerie walking towards the camera as if on a catwalk, in what appears to be a recruitment agency where photos of other models are stuck on the walls behind her.
In several of the clips, it is unclear if the young women are fully clothed because of the heavy redactions.
Other videos show girls posing in front of artworks, with one ordered by a man with an Australian accent to try and 'look a little happier' for the photograph.
One young women spoke Russian to a man who filmed her in the backseat of a car, while another posed in a selfie video in front of a mountain range.
A different clip shows a young girl wearing leggings and trainers, posing in front of Morning in a Pine Forest, the renowned Russian oil painting currently housed in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.
Another depicts a victim dancing provocatively to a rendition of Amy Winehouse's Back To Black, wearing black stockings and tinsel. Other clips show young women posing for the camera topless.
Speaking to the New York Times about when Epstein assaulted her, Arden said: 'His weapons were his hands.'
She said she went to the police the day after the attack, concerned that he could be using his connection to Victoria’s Secret to harm other women.
Her testimony remains one of the earliest known police records of an allegation of sexual misconduct against the American financier.
While Epstein never worked for the high street lingerie brand, he enjoyed a close relationship with American billionaire Leslie Wexner, the then head of its parent company, L Brands.
Wexner is credited with having made Victoria’s Secret one of the most famous brands on the planet. The businessman has never been accused of wrongdoing.
Epstein also used French modelling scout Jean-Luc Brunel - was found hanged in his cell in La Santé prison in 2022 - to allegedly help procure ‘more than a thousand’ women.
The late Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Epstein’s long-time accuser who died by suicide aged 41 last year, alleged in court filings that the French agent brought teenage girls into the US on model visas.
She claimed the girls were then ‘farmed out’ by Brunel to Epstein and others for sex.
She also alleged she was made to have sex with Brunel several times while staying in Epstein’s homes.
Emails published by the DOJ confirmed for the first time that the disgraced financier made covert recordings using secret cameras in his numerous residences.
In a message from February 5, 2014, Epstein asked his pilot Larry Visoski for ‘three motion detected hidden cameras that record’.
‘I already two purchased the Motion sensor camera from the Spy Store in fort Lauderdale yesterday,’ Visoski, who also worked as a technician for Epstein’s property empire, replied.
‘I charged them last night and figuring our how to work them as we speak; its amazing how small they are; the size of Thumb nail drive; 64 hour recording; Motion sensor. I’m installing them into Kleenex boxes now. I’ll bring them by later today.’
On the same day as the secret camera purchases, the sex offender received an email from someone else whose name has been redacted saying: ‘Remember what we spoke about if you want to put cameras in the house. It will have to be very discreetly done. The Russians may come in handy.’
In recent weeks several figures including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk have theorised that the financier was collaborating with Moscow’s intelligence services to collect ‘kompromat’ with which to blackmail powerful individuals.
Tusk said that Warsaw would launch an investigation into what it said were possible links between Epstein and Russia’s intelligence services, and into any potential impact on Poland.
Asked by Reuters about Tusk’s remarks and about Western media reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: ‘I would like to joke about such versions, but let’s not waste our time.’
Russian officials say that claims of a link between Epstein and Russian intelligence are clearly being thrust into the public sphere to distract from a scandal they say has laid bare the hypocrisy of powerful men across the US and Europe.