A victim of Jeffrey Epstein has told how she tried to escape through shark-infested waters in a bid to get away from his notorious 'pedophile island'.

Sarah Ransome, who was born in South Africa to British parents, said she was raped three times the day she tried to make her dramatic escape.

After being lured to the disgraced billionaire's island on Little St James in the Caribbean, she spent five months being abused, before jumping on a quad bike to flee.

Ransome, who is the granddaughter of Lord Gordon Macpherson, the second baron of Drumochter, was introduced to Epstein aged 22 in 2006 after being approached by a woman in a nightclub in New York.

Sarah Ransome (pictured) has told how she tried to escape through shark-infested waters in a bid to get away from Epstein's notorious 'pedophile island'

Jeffrey Epstein accusers, Sarah Ransome (right) and Virginia Guiffre leave the Manhattan court last month after the sex trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein was formally closed last month

Facilities at Little St James Island, in the Caribbean, one of the properties of financier Jeffrey Epstein where Sarah Ransome claims she was abused

She moved to the US after dropping out of university in Edinburgh and taking up a place at fashion school in New York.

According to Ransome, she did not get far after trying to escape and was quickly brought back by a team in boats working for Epstein.

She told the Telegraph: 'I had been raped three times that day. A shark would have been my best friend at that point. I didn't even think about it - it was just, get me away.

Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in July awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges

'There were some days I was raped three times a day. And then he would rape others.'

Ransome said the young woman who approached her in a club told her Epstein could help her 'achieve her dreams' and he took her to the movies.

She added: 'She [the woman] found out everything about me very quickly. I was so broken. I was an open book. It was like: ''there's this amazing guy, a philanthropist, this wealthy guy, he's amazing, he's helped me so much, he's helped me achieve my dreams, he can help you''.

'He was so charming, charismatic. We just went to the movies. I was 22. I didn't really understand.'

A couple of days later she received an invite to the island on Epstein's private jet - after being told she was banned from drinking or smoking.

Ransome said: 'During the duration of the flight everyone had fallen asleep. But I am a complete insomniac on planes. And they started having full on, hardcore sex on the bed, one of the girls and Jeffrey.

'There was no privacy. They did it in front of everyone. And from the time I got onto the island that was when the abuse began.'

Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan residence that still shows signs of the raid by FBI investigators in July following his arrest for alleged sex trafficking

Ransome was eventually able to escape in 2007 after she was moved to stay at Epstein's Manhattan building.

She reportedly decided to leave after being asked to recruit Epstein a new personal assistant in South Africa.

Last December a lawsuit filed by Ransome against Epstein and alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell in Manhattan federal court was settled by the financier.

However, she withdraw the lawsuit against Epstein following a settlement - the terms of which were not disclosed.

She was one of some two dozen women who spoke out before a federal judge in New York last month when the sex trafficking case against Epstein was formally closed following his suspected suicide in his New York jail cell.

Epstein was facing trial on sex trafficking charges when he was found hanged in his Manhattan jail cell in July.

The 66-year-old, who once counted US President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton as friends, was arrested on July 6 and pleaded not guilty to federal charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of girls as young as 14.

His death has triggered investigations by the FBI, the US Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which runs the detention facility.

Lawyer David Boies (right) arriving at court with his client Virginia Giuffre and fellow accusers including Sarah Ransome (far left)

Metropolitan Correctional Center, where Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell in July

It also prompted outrage and disbelief over how such a high-profile prisoner could have been left without surveillance at the federal facility.

The billionaire bought Little St James more than 20 years ago, adding a high-security to the mansion and a blue and white gold-domed structure.

Epstein allegedly flew girls into St Thomas then shuttled them over to his island on a boat named after Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite accused of soliciting young girls on his behalf.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre accused the pair of keeping her as a 'sex slave' in the early 2000s when she was underage, after meeting Maxwell in Mar-a-Lago where she had a summer job.

She alleged in a May 3, 2016 deposition that she was trafficked by the pair to have sex with and provide erotic massages for politicians and affluent businessmen.

Epstein was convicted and previously jailed for 18 months in Florida in 2008 on charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution.

But that sentence, which was agreed in a plea deal with prosecutors, was widely criticized as it allowed the billionaire to leave his cell on a private wing six days a week for 12 hours a day on work release.