New York/Washington – A New York woman who
said she was sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein at the age of
14 sued the disgraced financier's estate and a former associate
on Wednesday, as prison officials began an internal review of
how Epstein died in an apparent suicide last week.
In the first of an expected wave of lawsuits, Jennifer
Araoz, 32, said she had just entered high school in 2001 when an
Epstein associate brought her to the financier's mansion on
Manhattan's Upper East Side, beginning a grooming process that
led to months of sexual abuse including a "brutal rape."
The lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court is among the
first of a series by women made possible by the state's Child
Victims Act, which opened a one-year window to sue over alleged
sexual abuse regardless of how long ago it occurred.
Epstein, who once counted Republican President Donald Trump
and Democratic former president Bill Clinton as friends, was
found unresponsive in his cell on Saturday morning at the
Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan, according
to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
A source said the
well-connected money manager was found hanging by the neck.
Psychologists began on Tuesday studying how the suicide took
place, according to a person familiar with the matter,
reflecting Federal Bureau of Prisons' policy calling for a
"psychological reconstruction" following a suicide.
Another team at the MCC on Wednesday began an "after action"
review, which is normally triggered by significant events such
as the death of a high-profile inmate, the person familiar with
the matter said. That review will be headed by a Bureau of
Prisons director from another region.
The reviews are separate from investigations by the FBI and
US Department of Justice's inspector-general and Jack Donson,
a former Bureau of Prisons corrections case manager, said the
Bureau of Prisons would probably "take care of business this
week".
Epstein had been arrested on July 6 and pleaded not guilty
to charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls
between 2002 and 2005. Prosecutors said he recruited girls to
give him massages, which became sexual in nature.
Araoz's lawsuit says former Epstein associate Ghislaine
Maxwell facilitated Epstein's abuse of several girls by
overseeing their recruitment and "ensuring that approximately
three girls a day were made available to him for his sexual
pleasure".
A lawyer who had represented Epstein did not immediately
respond to requests for comment. Lawyers for Maxwell did not
immediately respond to similar requests.
The other three unnamed defendants in Araoz's lawsuit – all
women who allegedly worked for Epstein in New York – are a maid,
a secretary and a "recruiter" who helped procure underage girls
for him.
Araoz told reporters on a conference call she was angry that
Epstein's death meant he would never face her in court but
wanted to exercise her legal rights in civil court.
"Today is my first step toward reclaiming my power Jeffrey
Epstein and his enablers stole from me," she said. "They robbed
me of my youth, my identity, my innocence and my self-worth."
The complaint described Epstein's massage room as having a
ceiling painted as a blue sky with clouds and angels, "to give
the appearance that you were in heaven".
It also detailed a variety of alleged misconduct by Epstein,
including what she called an insinuation that she owed him
because of the money he paid her.
"I take care of you, you take care of me," the complaint
quoted Epstein as saying.
Araoz also accused Epstein of having failed to use a condom
during the alleged rape, which she said led her to suffer a
"panic disorder" that was exacerbated by her father's recent
death from Aids.
Dan Kaiser, a lawyer for Araoz, said on the conference call
that holding Epstein's "adult enablers" responsible was "a very
large part of this story".
He called Maxwell a key figure in maintaining and concealing
Epstein's alleged sex trafficking ring, although Araoz never met
her.
"She is absolutely culpable for the injuries that these
girls sustained," Kaiser said of Maxwell.
To obtain damages in civil lawsuits against Epstein's
estate, victims would need to prove claims by a preponderance of
the evidence, not beyond a reasonable doubt as in a criminal
case.
In 2008, Epstein had pleaded guilty in Florida to state
charges of solicitation of prostitution from a minor in a
non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors that has been
widely criticized as too lenient.
The US Attorney in Miami at the time, Alexander Acosta,
resigned as US labour secretary in July as that agreement came
under fresh scrutiny following Epstein's latest arrest.
Epstein had been on suicide watch since the arrest but a
source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said he was not on watch at the time of his death.
US Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday ordered the
transfer of Epstein's jail warden, after condemning "serious
irregularities" at the facility. Two guards were placed on
leave.
Barr also said the criminal investigation into Epstein's
alleged sex trafficking and the role of possible co-conspirators
would continue.
Trump has called for an investigation into Epstein's death.
FBI agents were expected to visit the Manhattan jail on
Wednesday, MSNBC said. The FBI declined to comment.
It is not known if Epstein had a will. His lawyers last
month said Epstein had about $559 million of assets, including
two private islands and four homes, and that the Manhattan
mansion was worth about $77 million.
Los Angeles lawyer Lisa Bloom and New York lawyer Roberta
Kaplan told Reuters this past weekend that they intend to file
lawsuits in New York against Epstein's estate this week.