Model Roza Says Jeffrey Epstein Raped Her While Serving a Jail Sentence: 'I Just Froze During Assaults'

Roza says the abuse began after she was recruited as Epstein's assistant, while a BBC investigation examines modelling links to his network

Jeffrey Epstein in a Photo Registering him as an Offender — Jeffrey Epstein is pictured in an undated portrait as model Roza alleges he raped her during his jail sentence, saying she froze during the assaults U.S. Virgin Islands, Department of Justice, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Roza, an Uzbek model, says Jeffrey Epstein raped her repeatedly over three years after her agency sent her to his Palm Beach home for photoshoots in 2009, while he was serving a sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

She was 18 and had been in the United States for less than a month when MC2 Model Management's US branch sent her to Epstein's home. Roza says the shoots led to a job as his assistant, and that he began abusing her within a week.

'I was in so much pain being assaulted, I just froze,' she told the BBC. 'You think you should kick, punch, run away. What is wrong with me?'

Her account features in The Model Trap: Exposing Jeffrey Epstein's Network, a BBC Eye investigation into modelling contacts that brought young women into Epstein's orbit after his 2008 conviction. The documentary airs on BBC Two on Monday, 16 November, and is available on BBC iPlayer.

How a Modelling Opportunity Became a Route to Epstein

Roza began modelling at 15 to help her family. She told US lawmakers that agent Jean-Luc Brunel recruited her in Uzbekistan and promised her a career in America. MC2 obtained an O-1 visa for her in less than six months, she said.

After arriving in New York in May 2009, Roza said the agency told her she owed $10,000 (about £7,400). The BBC says MC2 sent her to Epstein's home for two photoshoots, taken by his then girlfriend Nadia Marcinkova. Roza says the pictures were never used.

Epstein was serving an 18-month sentence under work release. He was released from custody into home detention on 22 July 2009. Roza says the abuse began after she became his assistant and continued for three years.

Documents Point to a Wider Modelling Network

BBC Eye found that 10 models from MC2 met or corresponded with Epstein after his conviction.

The files show Epstein transferred $1 million (about £742,000) to MC2 in 2005. In a 2012 email, MC2's US president Jeff Fuller told Epstein the agency would have fired another model months earlier if it had not been for him.

Fuller has denied knowing Roza was being sent to Epstein's home or that she was being abused. An expense statement reviewed by the BBC suggests he booked her return flight after the second shoot. He did not respond to the BBC's latest questions.

Another model, identified as Simona, said Epstein arranged a meeting between her and Faith Kates, then head of Next Management. Simona alleges Kates suggested plastic surgery. Kates's lawyers denied she had asked a model to undergo surgery and said Epstein had misled her.

Roza Calls for Accountability

In May 2026, Roza testified at a field hearing organised by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee in West Palm Beach. She described how Epstein abused her while he was on work release.

'I think about it so many times my body hurts,' she told the BBC. She said the agency that sent her to Epstein's home should be held accountable.

The documentary raises questions about how modelling agencies and intermediaries dealt with Epstein after his conviction. Its findings do not establish criminal liability for those named; several have denied wrongdoing or declined to comment.