Former Palm Beach County woman sues Epstein's estate, claiming she was molested at 14

WEST PALM BEACH -- Claiming she was sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein when she was 14, a former Palm Beach County woman has sued the late financier's estate in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.

The woman, identified only as JJ Doe, is among more than a dozen women who have filed suit against Epstein's $577 million estate since the convicted sex offender hanged himself in a New York City jail cell in August while awaiting trial on dozens of child trafficking charges.

The lawsuit is the first to be filed against the estate in circuit court here. It is where Epstein in 2008 was allowed to plead guilty to two prostitution charges even though more than a dozen underage teens had accused him of molesting them at his Palm Beach mansion.

In the lawsuit, the woman claims she was lured to Epstein's mansion on El Brillo Way in 2003 with the promise of earning $200 to give him a massage. It was one of Epstein's favorite ruses, Fort Lauderdale attorney Brad Edwards claims.

Once there, Epstein demanded that she take off her clothes, Edwards says in the suit. Epstein fondled her breasts and vagina while he masturbated, the attorney wrote in the lawsuit filed over the Christmas holiday.

"During the encounter, (JJ Doe) resisted Jeffrey Epstein's advances and demands, yet was assured if she complied then he would stop and it would end soon," Edwards wrote.

In addition to paying the woman $200, he paid the same amount to another teen who recruited JJ Doe after also being molested by Epstein, Edwards said.

Unlike some of the other women who are demanding as much as $100 million for their abuse, JJ Doe isn't seeking a specific amount for her emotional distress and trauma.

In an email, Edwards said JJ Doe was not among the dozens of women who were interviewed by Palm Beach police and described encounters similar to the one described in the lawsuit. He declined to say where she is living now but indicated she no longer lives in Palm Beach County.

Like others, Edwards has filed suit in New York on behalf of other women who said they were molested by Epstein at his palatial New York City townhouse or other homes he owned throughout the country.

Delray Beach attorney Darren Indyke, a longtime Epstein attorney, wasn't immediately available for comment about the growing number of lawsuits against the estate. In a will signed days before his suicide, the 66-year-old Epstein tapped Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn as co-executors of his estate.

In court filings in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned an island retreat, Indyke and Kahn have asked that a fund be set up to compensate Epstein's accusers.

They have asked a judge to appoint Boston attorney Kenneth Feinberg to administer the fund. Feinberg has been involved in efforts to distribute billions to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal, the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings

In a statement to The New York Times in November, Indyke and Kahn promised that Epstein's accusers would be given "the opportunity to obtain appropriate compensation and to be heard and treated with compassion, dignity and respect."

Edwards said he needs more details about the proposed fund. "We don't have enough information yet to have a real opinion," he said in an email. " It could be a good thing, if administered fairly."

For more than a decade, Edwards doggedly fought to bring Epstein to justice and unravel the controversial nonprosecution agreement that allowed the part-time Palm Beacher to escape federal charges.

After reviewing thousands of documents, The Palm Beach Post in November reported that then-Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer worked with then-South Florida U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta to craft the secret deal.

After Krischer agreed to let Epstein plead guilty to solicitation of prostitution and soliciting a minor for prostitution, Acosta, shelved a 53-page federal indictment. Acosta resigned in July as President Donald Trump's labor secretary over his role in the Epstein deal.

Epstein served 13 months of an 18-month jail sentence in a largely vacant wing of the Palm Beach County jail -- a cell he was allowed to leave 12 hours a day, six days a week.

After one of Edwards' clients filed suit claiming she was molested by Epstein while he was on work release, Gov. Ron DeSantis in August ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

The state police agency is also investigating why Krischer failed to pursue Epstein on child molestation charges. The Post has sued to spur the release of grand jury documents that could explain Krischer's decision-making. Those involved in the FDLE investigation said they want also want records of the secret proceedings.

While Acosta stepped down from his federal post, a congressional committee wants more information.

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform last week sent letters to the U.S. Justice Department and FDLE asking for information about the nonprosecution deal and Epstein's treatment at the county jail.

U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, said Acosta, Krischer and Sheriff Ric Bradshaw could be called to testify.

"I know they are serious about looking at the Epstein case," she told The Post last week.

jmusgrave@pbpost.com

@pbpcourts

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