New lawsuit claims Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls to US Virgin Islands as recently as 2018
A new lawsuit filed Wednesday by the attorney general of the Virgin Islands claims that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls to his estate on his private island as recently as 2018, as first reported by The New York Times.
The lawsuit against the wealthy investor's estate accuses him of sexually abusing young women and girls in the Caribbean, including some as young as 12 years old.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York City jail last year. He was discovered unresponsive in his cell and with injuries to his neck in the early morning hours of July 23.
Young women were "deceptively lured" and recruited to the Virgin Islands "with money and promises of employment, career opportunities and school assistance," by Epstein and his associates, according to the lawsuit, which was filed by Attorney General Denise George in Superior Court of the Virgin Islands.
"Epstein, through and in association with defendants, trafficked, raped, sexually assaulted and held captive underage girls and young women at his properties in the Virgin Islands," the suit said. "Epstein created a network of companies and individuals who participated in and conspired with him in a pattern of criminal activity related to the sex trafficking, forced labor, sexual assault, child abuse and sexual servitude of these young women."
The lawsuit seeks forfeiture of Epstein’s USVI assets. However, the lawsuit insisted the goal was not to supplant the claims of numerous women who have also sued Epstein’s estate.
"These claims are distinct from, and are not intended to supplant, the claims of victims who were unconscionably harmed by Jeffrey Epstein and his associates," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also took aim at the estate’s victim compensation fund, casting it as a move to avoid a public reckoning of Epstein’s alleged conduct.
"Each of the participants continued to conspire to prevent detection of the breadth and scope of the Epstein Enterprise’s criminal wrongdoing and to prevent accountability," the suit said.
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ABC News' James Hill contributed to this report.
