Featured Image Credit: WREG
Topics: Jeffrey Epstein, Crime, World News, US News
Lucy Devine
An activist who was caught on Jeffrey Epstein's island has claimed he was hogtied by locals after attempting to 'do research' and raise awareness about the late financier's crimes.
Benjamin Owen is the founder of We Fight Monsters - a non-profit organization based in Memphis - which fights against and attempts to combat human trafficking and child exploitation.
Last weekend, Owen was found by authorities following claims of a kidnapping. When police arrived on Little St James - the island formally owned by Epstein - they reportedly found Owen restrained with duct tape.
Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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They also came into contact with three other people, one of whom told police that his pregnant girlfriend had been pushed by trespassers taking photos on the island.
The man was charged with assaulting Owen, according to a police report.
Owen has now issued a statement to Nexstar’s WREG, explaining he was trying to do research to get the Epstein story back into the spotlight.
The statement read: “As confirmed by multiple media reports, and public record, I was arrested for trespassing on Epstein Island over the weekend while attempting to do some research to get that story back in the spotlight and raise awareness for our non-profit We Fight Monsters which combats human trafficking and exploitation.
"Those same reports also highlight that I was kidnapped, hogtied and blindfolded by an individual who managed the island for Jeffrey Epstein himself, a woman who apparently still manages and resides on the island today.
“I’d like to thank [Virgin Islands police] for rescuing me from that debacle, and I look forward to seeing what the legal process uncovers as all of this proceeds.
“One thing I’ll add — nobody pushed the woman on the beach and we have video of that confrontation when the time is right.
"At the request of the magistrate, that’s all I’m able to say now, just repeating publicly available information, I’m unable to discuss any specifics of the case.”
Owen's wife Jessica told ABC24 Memphis following the event: "He figured he would get caught and arrested that was totally okay with him and I think he wanted that a little bit, just to get eyes back on that subject, on that island and possibly to get more eyes on We Fight Monsters.
"... To us it was completely worth doing... for the victims of Epstein, for the victims everywhere, this was for all of them."
Owen has been charged with trespassing and has since been released on bond.
UNILAD has reached out to Virgin Islands police department for comment.