The Night a Teenager Tried to Swim Away

A Desperate Escape

Two miles of open water separated the glow of St. Thomas from the dark shoreline of Little Saint James. According to later accounts gathered by investigators and attorneys, a 15-year-old girl once attempted to cross that distance after slipping into the sea under cover of night.

She swam toward the lights for nearly twenty minutes, witnesses later said, before a boat engine cut through the darkness behind her. She was returned to the island.

The consequences, according to civil filings and survivor testimony in related proceedings, were not immediate violence but isolation: confiscation of travel documents, loss of identification and the removal of any practical means to leave the territory independently. In such an environment, escape required more than reaching shore; it required paperwork, access and protection.

Investigators reviewing events years later concluded that attempts to flee were not isolated incidents.

What Workers Said — and Didn’t Say

Former contractors and local workers have described scenes that, in retrospect, raised alarm. An information-technology contractor who worked on the island for several years later told investigators he saw teenage girls who appeared to be 15 or 16. An airport employee recalled observing Epstein travel with young girls he believed to be underage. A boat captain ferried passengers to the island and said he once noticed a girl crying.

Several of those individuals did not report concerns to law enforcement at the time. Some later cited uncertainty about what they were witnessing. Others described fear of professional or financial consequences. In interviews conducted years after Epstein’s 2019 arrest, some acknowledged regret over their silence.

On St. Thomas, the property acquired a reputation. Locals referred to it colloquially as “Pedophile Island,” a nickname widely reported after Epstein’s death. Yet rumor did not translate into formal intervention.

Epstein had pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to a charge involving solicitation of a minor and served an 18-month sentence under a controversial plea agreement. After his release, he resumed international travel and social activity among elite circles.

Oversight and Jurisdictional Gaps

From 2008 to 2019, local compliance checks in the U.S. Virgin Islands were reportedly limited in scope. According to government records cited in civil proceedings, officers would at times stop at the dock to confirm Epstein’s presence without conducting full inspections of the property.

In 2014, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation contacted territorial authorities to inquire whether reports of ongoing misconduct had been investigated. The response, as later described in court filings, indicated jurisdictional limitations and insufficient evidence at the time to pursue further action.

Legal experts say such cases often expose fragmentation in oversight. Federal agencies, territorial authorities and local police may each assume another body holds primary responsibility. When allegations are diffuse and victims reluctant to come forward publicly, enforcement gaps widen.

The consequences became clearer after Epstein’s arrest in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. He died in a Manhattan jail cell the following month while awaiting trial.

Civil Litigation and Institutional Fallout

In 2020, Attorney General Denise George of the U.S. Virgin Islands filed a sweeping civil lawsuit against Epstein’s estate, alleging that his companies had facilitated trafficking and abuse. The case resulted in a $105 million settlement with the estate.

The territorial government later pursued litigation against JPMorgan Chase, alleging the bank enabled Epstein’s financial operations despite red flags. The bank denied wrongdoing and ultimately reached a settlement in 2023 without admitting liability.

Days after filing that action, George was dismissed by the governor, a move that sparked political controversy within the territory. Officials stated personnel decisions were unrelated to litigation strategy; critics questioned the timing.

Unsealed documents in subsequent years revealed internal communications dating back to 2006 that instructed staff to collect mobile phones from guests upon arrival at the island, limiting photography and external contact. Other materials remain sealed permanently, including certain grand jury testimony and sensitive evidence involving minors.

The Unanswered Questions

The girl who swam into the dark is not named in public filings. Nor are many of the young women whose identities remain shielded by court order.

Epstein’s island was two miles from a populated shore. Boats crossed the channel daily. Lights from St. Thomas were visible each night.

For more than a decade after his 2008 conviction, he moved within a network of wealth, influence and institutional hesitation. The civil cases that followed his death have documented financial transactions, internal warnings and missed signals.

What remains unresolved is not only how many people attempted to leave — but how many opportunities existed for intervention.

The water between Little Saint James and St. Thomas is narrow. The silence surrounding it, investigators suggest, was far wider.