What happened to Epstein's 'pedo island' after he died? As court prepares to release Epstein's 'client list' a look at Little St James where he groomed and abused young girls but it now set to be turned into a luxury resort next year

Investor and entrepreneur Stephen Deckoff bought Jeffrey Epstein's 'Pedophile Island' as part of a $60m deal and plans to build a luxury resort 

Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘pedo island’ aka Little Saint James in the US Virgin Islands was a focal point of his horrific child-sex-trafficking operation.

It has long been believed that Epstein hosted a wide array of rich and famous clients at the island. The names of those involved are expected to be released by a New York court this week, five years after he took his own life inside of a jail cell.

When Epstein first purchased Little Saint James, he paid $7.9 million. Epstein bought the island in 1998 and later made it his primary residence, employing a staff of 70 people.

At the time of his death it was valued at $63.8 million. In the aftermath of Epstein’s death, it was listed for sale for $125 million in 2021.  In May 2023, it was sold to billionaire Stephen Deckoff who vowed to turn it into a luxury resort by 2025.

Deckoff is reported to have paid around $60 million for the property as well as for Great St. James. Epstein’s estate has said that any money generated from the sale of his properties would be used to settle lawsuits.

Two private islands previously owned by pedophile Jeffrey Epstein were bought in 2023 after more than a year on the market

Epstein abused underage girls on the island with the help of his confidante Ghislaine Maxwell

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.

Deckoff, the co-founder of Black Diamond Capital Management, plans to open his resort on the islands in 2025. It’s thought that because the property sat on the market for so long was because of the struggle to find a buyer.

The price was slashed from $125 million to $110 million in 2022.

Although Deckoff will remodel much of the island for his planned resort, Epstein’s home will remain and be turned into a hotel.

‘I’ve been proud to call the US Virgin Islands home for more than a decade and am tremendously pleased to be able to bring the area a world-class destination befitting its natural grace and beauty,’ Deckoff told the Financial Times last year.

Announcing his plans for the islands, Deckoff said: ‘I’ve been proud to call the U.S. Virgin Islands home for more than a decade and am tremendously pleased to be able to bring 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 manner that will provide economic benefits to the region while respecting its culture, history and natural beauty.

‘I very much look forward to working with the U.S. Virgin Islands to make this dream a reality.’

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

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

Deckoff is in the process of retaining architects and engineers to develop the resort on the islands

Epstein paid $20 million to acquire Great Saint James in 2016 but never developed it.

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.

Deckoff has previously said  that he never met Epstein and visited the islands for the first time after they were listed for sale.

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.

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

Little St James (pictured) and the neighboring island of Great St James have been purchased for $60 million by billionaire Stephen Deckoff

Ghislaine Maxwell is pictured having a meal at Epstein’s mansion on Little St James Island in this undated photo

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.’

The island has drawn several thrill-seekers who’ve ignored the no trespassing signs to explore the property.

Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change and Jeff Berwick were able to get onto the island and explore Epstein’s office, a few of the underground lairs and get close enough to the pedophile’s infamous temple on Little St James to reveal that the doors of the structure are in fact painted on the building.

Rudkowski explored several underground structures, including one that appeared to house the island’s generator.

There have also been claims the island has its own subterranean tunnel network, though this has never been substantiated.

Epstein’s resort also include 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 with pictures of naked girls.

Epstein had remodeled his bedroom several times and during these renovations he put in a ‘ten-showerhead shower – for group showers’, Scully claimed.

‘There were more pictures in the bathroom than anywhere else – including of young, barely clothed or semi-nude girls,’ he added.