jeffrey epstein

Lawsuits Allege Epstein Arranged for Sex With Teenager While on Work Release

Photo: New York State Sex Offender Registry

Among the many reasons for outrage over Jeffrey Epstein’s 2007 wrist-slap plea deal for soliciting underage girls was the possibility that a rampant child abuser given six-day-a-week work-release privileges would be likely to seek out more teenagers to abuse during his 13-month sentence. According to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by a woman identified as Kaitlyn Doe, the concern was not unfounded.

“Jeffrey Epstein, through his brazen and powerful organization, was quite literally able to commit federal sex-trafficking offenses at his work-release office, during his jail sentence,” the woman’s lawyers stated in the suit. Kaitlyn alleges that she first encountered Epstein as a 17-year-old in 2006, when he said he could help her treat an eating disorder, but coerced her into sex acts in a massage room in his Manhattan townhouse. She was later flown to Epstein’s Little St. James Island, where she was forced to have sex with him, as he promised to pay for “expensive, necessary surgeries,” according to the suit.

While Epstein served his sentence in south Florida in October 2008, he convinced Kaitlyn to fly to Palm Beach with the promise of a job at an organization he funded, the Florida Science Foundation. There was no work available at the nonprofit, though Epstein expected her to perform sex acts while he was out on work release. On more than one occasion, she was coerced into performing sex acts with another young woman.

A woman identified as Priscilla Doe is also suing the Epstein estate, alleging that they met in 2006 when she was 20 and he was under federal investigation. While he was on work release, she was flown to Florida to have sex with Epstein.

A third woman, identified as Lisa Doe, also sued Epstein’s estate on Wednesday, alleging that as a 17-year-old ballet dancer, Epstein pulled her into his sex-trafficking ring, with the enticement of close connections “with some of the most influential names in dance” switched out for “massages” and sexual abuse.

All three women, represented by the same lawyers, present a consistent pattern of alleged behavior executed by Epstein and his enablers: a false promise of career or personal advancement, turned to coerced sex acts, turned to forced arrangements. Priscilla claims that Epstein’s friend and alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, “explicitly told Plaintiff she needed to learn how to properly sexually service Jeffrey Epstein in the exact way that he preferred,” and that for six years she was held in what she considers a form of sexual slavery. “During that time, Jeffrey Epstein controlled nearly every aspect of [her] life from the clothing and jewelry she was permitted to wear to the career path she was permitted to follow to the food she was allowed to consume,” the lawsuit states. Kaitlyn was allegedly caught up in Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring until 2014, when she was coerced into marrying an associate of Epstein’s who helped recruit young girls, in order to secure his U.S. residency.

Epstein Trafficked Teenager While on Work Release: Lawsuit