Church Suspends Pastor After Links to Jeffrey Epstein’s Private Island Come to Light

The Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church has suspended a pastor for her alleged working relationship with convicted s– offender Jeffrey Epstein. Rev. Stephanie Remington allegedly worked on the child trafficker’s infamous island shortly before his death in 2019.

Remington previously served as a pastor in Kansas City between 2011 and 2016. She later joined the Lewis Center for Church Leadership as a research manager. In August 2018, she accepted an opportunity to work as an administrative assistant for Epstein. By that time, the disgraced financier had already been convicted of soliciting prostitution.

From January to May 2019, Remington was employed at Epstein’s Caribbean island, Little Saint James, as a temporary property manager. Two months later, Epstein was arrested on charges of s– trafficking of minors. He died by suicide in prison while awaiting trial in August 2019.

Remington has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and the Missouri Conference has suspended her for 90 days while launching an investigation into her relationship with Epstein. The conference said it is the pastor’s duty to follow the highest standards of spiritual and moral leadership, and hence, they are handling the matter with utmost seriousness.

“In accordance with ¶363.7 of The Book of Discipline, the individual has been placed on suspension while the episcopal office reviews the matter,” the conference said, announcing Remington’s suspension. The decision was made by Bishop Robert Farr of the Missouri Episcopal Area.

The conference also stated that it had no prior knowledge of the pastor’s association with Epstein. “No information indicating this association was disclosed in any of those reports. The Bishop or district superintendent was not contacted about the individual’s interest in or acceptance of the Epstein-related position,” the statement read.

Remington’s professional relationship with Epstein came to light when a local United Methodist pastor and researcher, Turner, analyzed the recently released Epstein Files. Turner reportedly saw the name of Remington around 1,800 times in the documents. She said it was her duty to inform the conference, even though most mentions were work-related.

“I reported my finding as well as fact-checking material and requested they look into it with maximum promptness and transparency. To be clear, I didn’t report it, assuming any criminal wrongdoing. My responsibility was to carry out basic ‘due diligence,’” Turner said in a statement to FOX4.

In her defense, Remington said that she did not notice anything suspicious while working on Epstein's island. “I never saw anything. I knew him for the last nine months of his life, well after he served time for the things that he was accused of doing,” she said in a statement to UM News.

Remington added that when she began working for Epstein, he had already served his initial prison sentence and had not yet been arrested on trafficking charges. “Of course, he didn’t deserve a second chance. None of us do. But that’s not how grace works,” she continued.

The Missouri Conference will continue to review the case while Remington remains suspended for three months. The final decision on her future as a pastor might be taken once the investigation concludes.