(File video from 2025 above)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) – The leader of a nonprofit based in Memphis, Tennessee, that works with police to combat human trafficking and child exploitation was found Saturday tied up on an island associated with Jeffrey Epstein.

Benjamin Owen, the founder of We Fight Monsters, is charged with trespassing on the island. He is currently out on bond and back in Memphis, awaiting a May 15 arraignment.

Owen sent a statement to Nexstar’s WREG, explaining that he was on the island doing research to raise awareness on the Epstein story.

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On Saturday, authorities were called to a reported kidnapping and assault on Little St. James, the island formerly owned by Epstein, Virgin Islands police said in a court filing.

When they arrived on the island, police said they were met by three people, one of whom was initially aggressive toward police. They escorted officers by all-terrain vehicle to a holding area.

Officers found a man, later identified as Owen, restrained by duct tape on his body and face, wearing black pants with the lettering “We Fight Monsters,” according to the report.

One of the men on the island told police that his pregnant girlfriend had been pushed to the ground by trespassers taking pictures on the island. While other people fled, Owen was restrained by island personnel “to protect the island,” police said.

The worker was later charged with assaulting Owen in front of officers, according to the report. Police determined that there was probable cause that Owen had been unlawfully restrained.

In his statement, Owen confirmed Saturday’s events:

“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.”

One of the women who met with police in Owen’s case is identified in court documents from a separate case as Ann Rodriquez, a property manager for Little St. James. Nexstar’s NewsNation reports that Rodriquez, who appeared more than 200 times in the Department of Justice’s records related to the Epstein investigation, is facing charges in a May incident. Authorities alleged that she pursued two brothers in a boat and forced one to strip and kneel before being hogtied.

Rodriquez allegedly chased other members of Owen’s group in a boat while maintenance workers on the island detained him.

Epstein, a New York financier with connections to business, Hollywood and political elites, was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor, and died in prison in 2019 awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

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