Jeffrey Epstein may be dead, but his victims are not letting his scandal die with him.
On Monday and Tuesday several accusers told their stories both in and out of court, painting a picture of how the billionaire pedophile operated — and dropping some extremely big names along the way.
Related: Some Background On The Scandal
Their stories give a better look at how the alleged sex trafficking operation worked, and how it stayed buried so long.
The First Accusers
First, Maria Farmer opened up to The New York Times about her time with Epstein in the mid ’90s. She is the first known accuser to go on record with the authorities, way back in 1996.
Unfortunately, no one listened.
Maria says she was introduced to Epstein at the gallery show for her graduation from art school — by the dean of all people. Epstein hired her to acquire art for his homes and promised to help her painting career.
While she was working for him, Maria says she saw some odd things which made more sense later on.
First, she claims to have seen young women coming and going all the time from his estates, which his companion, Ghislaine Maxwell, told her were “auditions” for lingerie models.
(If someone asks you to audition for lingerie modeling in their home, RUN.)
Maria recalls hearing Maxwell leaving the house saying, “I’ve got to go get girls for Jeffrey.” She referred to these young women as “nubiles.”
“They had a driver, and he would be driving along, and Ghislaine would say, ‘Get that girl.’ And they’d stop, and she’d run out and get the girl and talk to her.”
As an employee of Epstein, Maria says she once met his most famous friend, Donald Trump, when he came to her boss’s office.
The POTUS has since tried to distance himself from the convicted pedophile, saying he’s “not a fan.” However, he famously gave a very different quote to a magazine in 2002:
“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Ick.
Maria claims Trump ogled her until Epstein had to tell him:
“She’s not for you.”
Ladies and gentlemen, our future president.
Maria apparently wasn’t wary enough of Epstein at the time. She told him about her 16-year-old sister Annie, who was looking around at colleges back in Arizona. Epstein offered to help, flying her out to NYC to visit Maria. They all went to a movie together, where — as she wrote in her diary at the time — he rubbed her hand and leg in a way that made her feel uncomfortable but that she told herself was normal.
Later, he invited her to his New Mexico home, and — thinking there would be more students going and seeing that a woman would be there — Annie’s mother agreed. Unfortunately there were no other teens. And the woman was Ghislaine Maxwell.
Annie says Epstein touched her some more and that he climbed into her bed one morning “to cuddle.” Later that weekend Maxwell offered to give her a massage, which eventually focused on her naked chest.
Maria says she didn’t know about this at the time. However, one night she says she was assaulted in an even more overt way:
She was staying at Epstein’s Ohio mansion when she was asked to massage Epstein’s feet — not exactly in the job description of an art expert, but he was her benefactor. She agreed.
Then, she claims, Ms. Maxwell and Mr. Epstein grabbed and groped her, even “twisting her nipples to the point of bruising.” Maria says she thought she was going to be raped and ran out of the room.
She called the police back in New York City, who took a report but also referred her to the FBI as Ohio wasn’t in their jurisdiction. She also told a reporter from Vanity Fair in 2003; but when the story came out, it didn’t mention her at all.
She says nothing happened — until 2006 when a bunch of other allegations apparently led the FBI to look at her case again. And we all know how that turned out.
Duke And Cover
Virginia Giuffre Roberts has been open about her accusations for years.
She claims Epstein kept her as a teenage sex slave, and that she was coerced into having sex with Prince Andrew. She named him and Maxwell, as well as others, in a 2015 lawsuit.
Now she’s got company. And while the sex trafficking case against Epstein has been ended by his apparent suicide, the investigation into his possible co-conspirators continues.
Outside the courthouse on Tuesday, she gave them all a warning, saying:
“It’s not how Jeffrey died but it’s how he lived but we need to get to the bottom of everybody who was involved in that, starting with Ghislaine Maxwell and going along the lines there.
I was recruited at a very young age from Mar-a-Lago and entrapped in a world that I didn’t understand. I’ve been fighting that world to this day. I will never stop fighting, I will never be silenced until these people are brought to justice.”
When she was asked about Prince Andrew specifically, she said:
“He knows what he has done and he can attest to that. He knows exactly what he’s done, and I hope he comes clean about it.”
As you’ve probably heard, the Royal family has denied any wrongdoing on Andrew’s part and condemned the behavior of his late associate.
As for the photos of Andrew and 17-year-old Roberts together, well… they are maintaining that’s all perfectly innocent.
The ‘Lolita Express’
Chauntae Davies worked as a flight attendant on Epstein’s private jet — yes, the one he used to fly Bill Clinton all over the world.
In fact, she says she once helped the former POTUS pick out a bracelet for Chelsea Clinton while on the ground in Africa; she provided a photo of the two of them together.
Davies says nothing untoward happened between her and President Clinton. However, she has maintained since 2015 the plane was not usually used for humanitarian missions. Dubbed the “Lolita Express,” the jet was, she says, used to carry young girls to Epstein’s private island.
While she had spoken before about the young girls, Davies opened up publicly for the first time in a New York court about what happened to her.
She claims Epstein violently raped her the third or fourth time she was on the island:
“He took me by the wrist. I was searching for words but all I could say was please stop, but that only seemed to excite him more.”
She says she spent several days in the hospital afterward “vomiting myself to death.” However she never reported it. Instead she went back to work.
Now Chauntae is no longer staying silent. She told the court:
“We have all suffered, and he is still winning in death. Please don’t rob us of justice again.”
So Many More
In total 16 accusers took the stand on Tuesday, including Chauntae’s sister, Teala Davies. She says she was victimized at 17.
Courtney Wild told the court she was only in middle school and still wearing braces when Epstein first found her, saying:
“Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused me for years… I feel very angry and sad and justice has never been served in this case”
Sarah Ransome claims she was held hostage on Epstein’s “pedophile island.” She recalls she tried to swim home, only to eventually be found and brought back. She also says Epstein “gave her” to famed attorney Alan Dershowitz, who has only ever admitted to getting a massage in his underwear while spending time with Epstein. He has denied any illegal activity.
Not all of Epstein’s accusers are willing to make their names public. 12 more statements were read by lawyers to keep the victims’ names anonymous. There are approximately 30 more accusers who were not present.
One anonymous woman claimed Epstein flew her to his ranch where he molested her for hours, the whole time explaining to her how he was helping her to grow.
Another woman cried as she described how she was intimidated into keeping silent.
We’ll leave you with one final, powerful statement from an accuser who chose to stay anonymous to protect her family:
“I used to be relatively carefree, inquisitive, hopeful, and excited about life. But, my life changed because of Jeffrey Epstein. My perspective on life became very dark when I was unknowingly recruited by one of his agents. Jeffrey Epstein ruined me. His recruiter ruined me.
The far-reaching consequences of that day ruined my family’s lives. I’ve chosen to remain anonymous in order to protect my family from unwanted media attention.
I was just trying to figure out my path in life when I encountered Jeffrey Epstein in his NYC mansion. I cannot even begin to summarize the many detriments this experience of sexual assault has had on my life. Immediately following the incident, I was unable to function and be around other people. My parents had to rescue me and bring me home, where I became a recluse for years.
I was changed forever and buried my assault deep down where the darkness couldn’t hurt me anymore. But, of course, it has always been here, lingering and affecting me unconsciously. At the time, I was mired in shame, guilt, and humiliation. I have somehow tricked myself into thinking that I had allowed the assault to happen, that I did this to myself, that I don’t deserve to be alive or to be loved. I believed that I was a disgusting, shameful person, who does not deserve to ever be happy.
These are the thoughts I’ve lived with on a daily basis. Furthermore, because I couldn’t tell anyone for fear of judgment, blame or retaliation, keeping this secret completely hindered my ability to uncover why these issues existed for me, which could have led to a path of healing over the years.
It is time for those with power to do the right thing. It is time for compassion toward our fellow human to reign over money, power and greed.
We need to protect our most vulnerable to allow them a chance at a normal life and nothing should come in the way of that. I believe that for future generations, including my own children, this case will set a precedent that victims must no longer suffer in silence on our own or be shamed for coming forward to seek protection. This case should demonstrate to those who want to harm others, that there will be a reckoning and they will pay dearly for the harm they inflict on innocent people.”
[Image via Dutch Press Photo/John Rainford/WENN/Avalon/New York State Sex Offender Registry.]
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