France Investigates Diplomat Over Epstein Links as Past Child Abuse Site Allegations Re-emerge
Foreign minister seeks investigation after emails with Jeffrey Epstein surface, while the accused official rejects all allegations tied to a past UN inquiry.
France, Feb 12 : France has initiated a formal investigation into a senior diplomat following allegations of communication with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, alongside resurfaced claims connecting the official to a previous United Nations inquiry involving child abuse websites.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said he was “appalled” upon learning of the revelations and confirmed that he had referred the matter to the public prosecutor while ordering an internal review. The diplomat in question, Fabrice Aidan, is currently on leave for personal reasons and has denied any wrongdoing.
The move comes after the US Department of Justice released additional files from the Epstein investigation. Although being named in the documents does not automatically imply criminal activity, the disclosures have triggered scrutiny in France.
A review of the records indicated that Aidan exchanged emails with Epstein starting in 2010, when he was reportedly serving at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Some messages allegedly show UN documents and reports being forwarded to Epstein.
Attention has also turned to a 2016 email in which Epstein shared a blog post discussing the dismissal of a “young French diplomat” from the UN after an FBI probe in 2013 reportedly found the individual had accessed child sexual abuse websites. French media outlets later identified the diplomat referenced in the post as Aidan.
Aidan’s lawyer, Jade Dousselin, dismissed the accusations as “utterly false,” asserting that no evidence of consulting illicit material was ever established. She emphasised that the FBI inquiry did not result in charges and that French investigations reached the same conclusion.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking underage girls. The latest disclosures continue to reverberate internationally, prompting renewed examination of individuals linked to the disgraced financier.
