Jeffrey Epstein’s “pedophile island” has been snapped up for $60 million by a billionaire with plans to turn it into a five-star luxury resort.
Stephen Deckoff, the entrepreneur and investor behind the project, will develop a 25-room retreat on the islands of Little St James and Great St James, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, with a goal of a grand opening by 2025.
But Deckoff might find that building his “dream resort” with such an ambitious timeline is the easy part. It will be much more difficult to convince wealthy tourists to spend their free time 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 Epstein’s blatant, large-scale abuse after he bought the island in 1998 for $7.5 million. He bought Great St James, the larger island next door, in 2016 for $22.5 million to protect his privacy.
It was revealed on Wednesday that Deckoff has bought both for $60 million. Announcing his vision for the islands, Deckoff emphasized that he never met Epstein and first visited the islands after they were put up for sale.
Little St James (pictured) and the neighboring island of Great St James have been bought 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 abuse underage girls there
Epstein threw parties for the rich and famous at Little St James, with celebrities from Prince Andrew to Stephen Hawking among his guests. Pictured: Jeffrey Epstein gets a massage from his assistant Sarah Kellen on his private island
Little St James’s troubling past has been extensively documented in photographs, victim testimonies, and lawsuits against Epstein and his associates.
Epstein – with the help of his confidante and fixer Ghislaine Maxwell – smuggled many young girls to the island, where they were raped and abused.
Photos previously published by DailyMail.com show young girls posing on the island paradise, or giving massages to Epstein while talking on the phone.
Maxwell can be seen in other photos being met by the legion of personnel Epstein has recruited to manage the island.
Epstein is said to have imported 200 workers after purchasing the island to build a stone mansion, two boarding 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 served for.
The sprawling estate Epstein had built on Little St James, with surrounding lawns and a swimming pool. In the background, a jetty extends into the clear, blue water
The main building on Little St James is surrounded by several other buildings, including the maids’ quarters and a massive square white building on one side of the island that some say is a music room 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 photo taken on the island, Maxwell sits at a large marble table as a man takes a call
Several of Epstein’s victims recall the abuse and suffering they faced on the island.
Sarah Ransome, a British Epstein victim, claimed she was raped up to three times a day during the months she was imprisoned there.
She says she was so determined to escape that she came up with a plan to swim in the surrounding shark-infested waters. However, she was spotted on the video cameras Epstein had installed over the island and was 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 to visiting the island but has always maintained that he was unaware 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 massage therapist in training in Los Angeles, treating Ghislaine Maxwell at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Davies later worked as Epstein’s masseuse and as a flight attendant on his private plane the “Lolita Express.”
A photo released during Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial shows the idyllic island of Little St James with the sprawling Epstein mansion
Epstein abused underage girls on the island with the help of his confidante Ghislaine Maxwell
The island has attracted several thrill seekers who have ignored no trespassing signs to explore the grounds.
Luke Rudkowski from We Are Change and Jeff Berwick were able to get to the island and explore Epstein’s office, some of the underground lairs and get close enough to the infamous temple of the pedophile on Little St James to reveal that the building’s doors are in fact painted on the building.
Rudkowski explored several underground structures, including one that appeared to house the island’s generator.
It has also been claimed that the island has its own underground tunnel network, although this has never been substantiated.
Epstein’s resort also has a ten-person shower for orgies, according to a maintenance worker. Steve Scully said in 2020 that Epstein installed the shower in a bathroom whose walls were covered in pictures of naked girls.
Epstein had remodeled his bedroom several times, and during these renovations he put in a “shower with ten shower heads — for group showers,” Scully claimed.
“There were more pictures in the bathroom than anywhere else — including of young, barely dressed or half-naked girls,” he added.
Two private islands formerly owned by pedophile Jeffrey Epstein have finally been purchased after more than a year on the market
Great St. James Island (above) is more than twice the size of Little St. James, but is largely undeveloped
In announcing his plans for the islands, Deckoff said, “I am proud to call the US Virgin Islands my home for more than a decade and I am thrilled to be able to make the area a world-class destination befitting its natural grace and beauty. .
“There is simply no place in the world as special as the U.S. Virgin Islands and I am humbled by the opportunity to share its splendor with visitors in a way that will bring economic benefits to the region, while enhancing the culture, history and natural beauty are respected.
“I very much look forward to working with the US Virgin Islands to make this dream come true.”
Deckoff is retaining architects and engineers to develop the resort on the islands