A YouTuber who trespassed on Jeffrey Epstein’s former private island in the Caribbean claims he was hogtied, blindfolded and locked in an underground concrete room by security staff — in an incident that has thrust the notorious Little St James back into the spotlight and led to criminal charges on both sides.
Benjamin Owen, 44, from Memphis, Tennessee, travelled to the island on 25 April with fellow content creator Ryan Dalton and a third individual. The trio reached the structure widely known as “the temple” before being spotted. While Dalton and the other man fled down a cliff and swam back to their boat, Owen said he stopped, fearing an asthma attack. He was then approached by a group who, without warning, bound his hands behind his back with rope.
What followed, Owen told CBS News, was an ordeal lasting several hours. He said he was transported to a dock, zip-tied, marched up a hill and brought to a pair of double doors built into a cliffside. Inside was what he described as a ten-by-twenty foot cement room with a dirt ceiling. “There’s nothing in there,” he said. Security staff then bound him further with duct tape around his ankles, knees and wrists. A woman subsequently entered the room, ordered guards to push him into a corner and had him blindfolded before the doors slammed shut. “I’m tied with rope, I’m tied with zip ties, I’m tied with duct tape,” Owen recalled. “I’m like, ‘I’m not going anywhere.'” He said the heat inside the room was so intense he feared he might die.
Several hours later, Virgin Islands police arrived, removed his blindfold and took him to a local police station. He was arrested for trespassing and released on a $500 bond. At a subsequent probable cause hearing, Owen said he learned that police believed the woman who ordered him blindfolded was Ann Rodriguez — a name that appears repeatedly in the millions of Epstein-related documents released by the US Department of Justice. Rodriguez apparently still manages Little St James and identified herself to Owen on the island as the property supervisor.
Rodriguez was herself arrested the following day, though in connection with a separate incident from 1 March involving another trespasser. According to CBS News, a man named Elio Gil Sancho told authorities he and his brother Marcel had been filming a documentary on the island when a drone they were operating landed on the beach. When the pair arrived by Jet Ski to retrieve it, a boat aggressively pursued them. Marcel was allegedly ordered to kneel with his hands behind his head while Rodriguez pointed a handgun at him. Rodriguez now faces charges of false imprisonment, kidnapping, third-degree assault and destruction of property in relation to that incident. She has not been charged in connection with Owen’s detention.
The island’s current owner, billionaire Stephen Deckoff — founder of Black Diamond Capital Management, who purchased Little St James and the neighbouring Great Saint James in 2023 for $60 million — has filed three separate civil lawsuits against alleged trespassers through an LLC tied to the property. The suit against Owen and his associates describes them as “internet-fame seekers” and “conspiracy theorists” acting with “wanton and reckless indifference,” and portrays them as part of a “rapidly growing subculture” of social media influencers capitalising financially on the island’s association with Epstein. The suit also claims Owen, who describes himself as a recovered addict, is “detached from reality” and “prone to embracing and pursuing wild conspiracy theories.” Owen has posted videos online claiming Epstein is still alive — a view Dalton said he shares, though both acknowledged they found no evidence to support it during their visit.
Owen maintained his intentions were legitimate. He told CBS News he had been “attempting to do some research to get that story back in the spotlight” and to raise awareness for his Memphis-based nonprofit We Fight Monsters, which focuses on combating human trafficking.
A spokesperson for the island’s holding company said there had been “an alarming increase” of individuals trespassing beyond the beach and tampering with structures, adding that such conduct “will be treated as such without exception.” Deckoff has said he plans to develop the islands into a luxury 25-room resort.
Epstein purchased Little St James in 1998, later acquiring the neighbouring island in 2016. Following his 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges and his death in custody one month later, the US Virgin Islands filed a civil suit against his estate alleging he had ferried underage girls to the island to abuse them. The case was settled in 2022 for $105 million.
