THE father of Jeffrey Epstein's 'secret' British girlfriend has admitted the family knew she dated a paedophile.

Shelley Anne Lewis, 43, was yesterday reported to have dated the paedo from 1999 to 2002 – the same time when Virginia Roberts claims she was coerced into having sex with Prince Andrew.

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“Shelley” was named in an email from Maxwell to Epstein, which was released among hundreds of pages of court documents on Thursday.

In the January 2015 message, Maxwell, 58, wrote: “I would appreciate it if Shelley would come out and say she was your g’friend – I think she was from end 99 to 2002.”

Epstein replied: “Ok with me.”

Shelley was yesterday identified as Manchester-born publisher turned “spiritual entrepreneur” Shelley Anne Lewis, 43, according to the Mail On Sunday.

There is no suggestion that she was aware of, or took part in, any criminality.

But she could be approached by prosecutors to see if she could help to piece together events, it’s reported.

'SECRET EX'

The Manchester-born "spiritual entrepreneur" is believed to have taken scores of flights on Epstein's 'Lolita Express' private jet.

Asked by MailOnline if the family knew of her relationship with Epstein, her father Brian Lewis, 71, replied: "It is a difficult question to answer.

"As a young girl we knew she was seeing someone in New York.

"So yes we did".

The retired businessman who lives in the family's sprawling million-pound cottage near Knutsford, Cheshire, added: "Now everything has gone mental.

"It is just getting crazy".

One neighbour said: "It's shocking that she's caught up with Epstein.

"The family are very nice and will be horrified to be linked to that man."

Ms Lewis could be set to be asked for help by prosecutors in the case against Ghislaine Maxwell, 58, the British socialite who denies procuring girls for Epstein and faces trial in the United States next July.

KEY WITNESS?

Ms Lewis was 22 in 1999 when it is claimed she met the then 46-year-old in New York, where she worked in the contemporary art department of Christie's auction house in New York.

She hasn’t commented on the latest claims linking her to Epstein and she deleted all her social media profiles after the release of the court documents on Friday.

But she previously told how she was helped by a “mentor” in the Big Apple who “was so original in all his thought processes that he couldn’t even see the box".

An ex-colleague of hers told of their shock at her alleged links to Epstein, saying: “Shelley was always very well connected and beautiful.

“I am shocked and saddened.”

Ms Lewis now divides her time between London and New York and runs a firm that hosts yoga retreats in America.

Ms Lewis’s name came out after the release of a batch of documents related to the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell, who dated Epstein for a period in the 1990s, is in custody charged with trafficking minors for her former partner.

The British socialite, who has pleaded not guilty, will go on trial in July 2021.

Maxwell has won the right to appeal the release of a transcript of her seven-hour deposition.

Mrs Roberts claims she had sex three times with Prince Andrew three times when she was a teenager after meeting him on a trip to London with Epstein and Maxwell in 2001.

He vehemently denies the claim.

Maxwell is in custody in the US charged with trafficking minors for her former partner Epstein.

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