From « pedophile island » to luxury resort, the metamorphosis of Little Saint James, Jeffrey Epstein’s « paradise »
Sold to American billionaire Stephen Deckoff in May 2022, Little Saint James, the former island of Jeffrey Epstein, has begun its transformation.
A little piece of heaven he turned into hell. Little Saint James is a paradise island of 30 hectares with lush vegetation set on the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. Its main asset: being located 15 minutes by boat from Saint-Thomas International Airport, which connects New York in 3:30. His only flaw: being acquired by Jeffrey Epstein in 1998 for $8 million.
For it was here, on this small island surrounded by coconut trees, that Jeffrey Epstein brought very young teenagers – sometimes as young as 11 years old – to rape them. The billionaire, nicknamed locally «the pedophile», took advantage of the «tranquility» of this place out of sight to attract his victims and abuse her with impunity. A past that explains why no one wanted this «little paradise» (seized by the FBI in 2019) when it was put on sale at 120 million euros in March 2022.
It took more than a year and halving the price of the island for Little Saint James to find its buyer, billionaire Stephen Deckoff, co-founder of Black Diamond Capital Management.
But by buying “Pedophile Island” and its 67-hectare neighbour, Great Saint James, Stephen Deckoff forged a conviction that it was imperative to completely transform the place – without demolishing existing buildings – before opening it to the public. Because the billionaire aims to create on this island a luxury hotel complex with 25 rooms.
And according to the «New York Post», which today publishes exclusive photos of the metamorphosis of Little Saint James, the work has already progressed well. The small «mausoleum» with white and blue stripes, which is located at the entrance of the island, has been painted white and has not found its dome (which flew away at the passage of Hurricane Maria, in 2017). The facade of the main villa covered with lime and the blue roofs repainted in gray. The two pools did not move, as did the petrol station and the four guest villas.
The American newspaper notes, however, that the islands are still largely underexploited and could therefore accommodate new buildings by the opening of the complex in 2025, in particular to offer various «attractions» to future tourists. Only problem, the virgin islands are dotted with protected natural areas and obtaining a building permit has not always been easy… Except to do like Jeffrey Epstein in his time: to carry out his work without a permit and pay in exchange for huge fines.
