The U.S. Virgin Islands sued the estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday, alleging that the deceased pedophile committed various child sex crimes involving girls as young as 12-years-old at his private island hideaway.
The lawsuit alleges Epstein “facilitated … the sexual molestation and exploitation of numerous girls” at his secluded residences between 2001 and 2018 by “deceptively lur[ing]” suspects “with money and promises of employment, career opportunities and school assistance.” The filings further state that the young girls were recruited to perform “services and engage in sexual acts” as part of a “trafficking pyramid scheme.”
The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Denise George in a Virgin Islands superior court, seeks forfeit of Epstein’s two islands — Little St. James and Great St. James. The properties are believed to be valued at $86 million.
According to the lawsuit, “a 15 year old victim was forced into sexual acts with Epstein and others and then attempted to escape by swimming off Little St. James Island.”
“Epstein and others organized a search party that located her and kept her captive by, among other things, confiscating her passport,” the lawsuit continued.
Prosecutors said that Epstein “suggested physical restraint or harm” to another victim, who attempted to flee the island after performing sexual acts.
The development comes after an unnamed woman sued Epstein’s estate in a Florida court, alleging she experienced emotional distress and battery at the hands of the deceased pedophile at the age of 14.
The lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County asks for an undisclosed amount of money. The lawsuit doesn’t give the woman’s name and only refers to her as “JJ Doe.”
The woman went to Epstein’s Florida mansion in 2003 when she was “a vulnerable child without adequate parental support,” the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, the teenager was first approached by another teenage girl who offered her $200 to give Epstein a massage at his mansion. At the mansion, she was led to a bedroom where there was a massage table and oils. Epstein entered the room in a towel, laid on the table and instructed her to take off her clothes as she massaged him, the lawsuit said.
“Out of fear, plaintiff complied with Jeffrey Epstein’s commands,” the lawsuit said.
Epstein then pinched the teenager’s nipples, fondled her, touched her between her legs and masturbated, the lawsuit said.
“During the encounter, plaintiff resisted Jeffrey Epstein’s advances and demands, yet was assured if she complied, then he would stop and it would end soon,” the lawsuit said
More than a dozen lawsuits are seeking millions of dollars in compensation for women who say they were sexually abused by Epstein, sometimes for years, at his homes in Manhattan, Florida, New Mexico, the Virgin Islands, and Paris.
Epstein, 66, killed himself in his New York City prison cell in August after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges. The wealthy financier had pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing girls as young as 14 and young women in New York and Florida in the early 2000s. In lawsuits, women say the abuse spanned decades.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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