The founder of a Memphis-based anti-trafficking nonprofit was discovered bound with duct tape on Little Saint James, the private Caribbean island once owned by Jeffrey Epstein, and later charged with trespassing, according to court filings.
Benjamin Jackson Owen, whose group works with trafficking survivors and people in recovery, was found restrained by island maintenance workers, who then called police. Officers later removed the bindings and ferried him off the island. Owen posted $500 bail and was released while he awaits his court date. He told investigators he traveled to Little Saint James to take photographs for his nonprofit. The strange encounter has now spiraled into arrests and criminal charges for at least three people connected to the island’s staff.
How police say they found him
According to probable-cause filings, detectives with the Virgin Islands Police Department were taken by boat to a holding area on Little Saint James, where they found Owen with his hands and face bound in duct tape, wearing only black pants. Officers documented his condition with photographs, removed the tape, and transported him off the island, WTJX reported.
The filings state that Owen was arrested on a trespassing charge and ordered to report by phone twice a week to the probation office while the case moves forward.
Earlier incident involved a BB-style gun
The March encounter was not the first clash between would-be visitors and island staff this year. In a separate incident on March 1, court documents say island property manager Ann Rodriquez chased two men on jet skis and pointed what investigators later determined was a BB gun that looked like a Glock-style handgun.
Investigators say one of the men was hogtied and brought onto Little Saint James, and that Rodriquez went through his bag and tossed memory cards from his drone into the water, according to St. Thomas Source. Rodriquez has been charged with false imprisonment, kidnapping, third-degree assault and destruction of property in connection with that incident.
Charges, bail and next steps
Magistrate Judge Simone VanHolten-Turnbull found probable cause to uphold the charges and set arraignments for May 15, according to court records.
Another defendant, Paul J. Arnold III, was arrested on a simple-assault charge after officers say he struck the restrained man in the March encounter and was granted $500 bail. Owen was also ordered to pay $500 and released, VI Consortium reported. Federal agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection, assisted during the earlier March response, according to the filings.
Who runs We Fight Monsters
Public records list We Fight Monsters as a Tennessee-based nonprofit focused on recovery, anti-trafficking work, and neighborhood restoration, with Benjamin Owen named as a director, according to ProPublica.
A 2025 press release described a partnership to renovate a recovery house at 1192 Melrose Street in Memphis and highlighted the group’s local programming and fundraising, as detailed by PR Newswire.
Legal questions and safety concerns
The run-ins have sparked questions about how far private security and island staff can legally go when detaining suspected trespassers, and whether the force allegedly used in these cases went too far. Prosecutors are still reviewing allegations of unlawful restraint and possible kidnapping counts involving island employees, according to court records.
Police seized pellet guns that closely resembled real handguns, and the incidents have drawn scrutiny from both federal and local investigators, St. Thomas Source reported. Defense attorneys and family members had not filed public statements in the court record reviewed for this story.
Arraignments are scheduled for May 15, and the defendants were advised of their rights and released under standard conditions while the cases proceed. Owen continues to run his nonprofit and told investigators he traveled to Little Saint James to photograph the island for its work.
