Jeffrey Epstein ‘victims’ vow to pursue estate, Aussie ‘sex slave’ cheated of justice

Lawyers for the alleged victims speak as the Aussie ‘sex slave’ reacts to his death.

Virginia Giuffre holds a photo of herself at age 16, when she says Palm Beach multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein began abusing her. Picture: Getty

Lawyers representing the alleged victims of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein have promised to pursue the convicted sex offender’s estate after his suicide voided criminal proceedings against him.

“I can promise you I will get to them on behalf of my client, come hell or high water,” said Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer who represents one of Epstein’s alleged victims, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Another lawyer who represents two alleged victims called on the administrator of Epstein’s estate, who has not been named yet, to freeze his assets “so his victims can get full and fair compensation for the lifelong injuries he caused them”.

It comes as prosecutors confirmed the criminal investigation that led to the sex trafficking charges against Epstein would continue, which could now involve associates of the ex-financier who helped recruit and maintain the exploitation of girls.

As the legal community in the US responds to the suicide, Australian-based accusers of Epstein’s have grappled with the realisation he would no longer be able to face court personally.

Aussie ‘sex slave’ feels cheated

A woman who accused Epstein of using her as a teenage “sex slave” has spoken from her Queensland home about her relief he will never harm anyone else but also ­expressed anger that he will not face court.

Virginia Giuffre said she was left in tears after being woken by her husband, Robert, at the couple’s Cairns home yesterday with the news of Epstein’s death in an apparent ­suicide while in custody on sex trafficking charges.

Ms Giuffre, a 36-year-old mother, brought a defamation lawsuit against the financier’s ­former girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, in 2015.

Only hours before his death, about 2000 pages of previously sealed documents, containing graphic allegations, were posted online by a US appeals court, even though Ms Giuffre’s lawsuit settled before the trial was to begin in 2017.

Epstein died in an apparent suicide while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Picture: AP

Ms Giuffre’s lawyer, Sigrid McCawley, who also represents other Epstein victims, said it was no coincidence Epstein took his life within 24 hours of the release of Ms Giuffre’s documents, which “expose the scope, scale and sophistication of Epstein’s international sex trafficking ­operation’’.

Ms Giuffre claimed in a 2016 deposition in the court filings that Epstein and Maxwell groomed her to become a “sex slave” for him and his cohorts, when she was 16.

She said she first met Maxwell in 1998 while working at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The documents, for the first time, reveal the names of the men with whom Ms Giuffre alleges Maxwell and Epstein forced her to have sex with, as well as new details about Epstein’s relationships with Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and Mr Trump.

Epstein, 66, was found unresponsive in his New York prison cell about 6.30am on Saturday local time (8.30pm AEST). Correctional centre staff tried to revive him and he was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Ms Giuffre said her husband woke her in the early hours of yesterday to break the news. “We’ve worked so hard to get here, and he stole that from us, too,” she said.

The FBI and US Justice ­Department have opened separate investigations into the circumstances of Epstein’s jail cell death, which has left Attorney-General William Barr “livid”.

Prince Andrew and Virginia Guiffre, aged 17. Picture: Shutterstock

Ms Giuffre was recruited into Epstein’s high flying world and for four years, she says, she was pimped out to Epstein’s friends.

The documents released on Saturday morning Australian time show that Ms Giuffre made claims about having sex with Andrew in 2011 to two sources, one of which was an interview conducted in Australia with the FBI.

There was evidence tendered as undisputed fact that pilot David Rodgers testified that he flew Ms Giuffre at least 23 times on ­Epstein’s jet, the “Lolita Express”, in the company of Maxwell.

Ms McCawley also says: “One of the individuals Ms Giuffre was trafficked to was Prince Andrew — trafficking that took place in ­Defendant’s own townhouse in London. There exist flight logs evidencing Ms Giuffre flying to London alongside Defendant and Epstein on Epstein’s private plane, and a photo of Ms Giuffre … and the Prince.’’

Ms Giuffre also described how she was flown to London with ­Epstein and met Andrew at Ms Maxwell’s house. This was where a photograph was taken of Andrew with his arms around her. Ms Giuffre’s lawyers say in the documents: “This particular photograph corroborates Ms Giuffre’s claims, and there is no other reasonable explanation why an American child should be in the company of adults not her kin, in the London house owned by the girlfriend of a now convicted sex offender.”

Epstein’s death has prompted assurances from a US official that allegations of sexual abuse and conspiracy will not be cast aside.

Andrew’s close friendship with Epstein will continue to be raised in American courts as lawyers representing alleged victims say they will press their civil cases against the estate of the American ­financier.

Hours before Epstein’s death, Buckingham Palace denied the ­allegations detailed in the US court documents that Andrew had inappropriately touched a young girl.

Andrew first met Epstein in the 1990s and continued his friendship with him even after Epstein was convicted of child prostitution in a secret plea deal, and served 13 months in jail in 2009.

The two men were photographed strolling through Central Park in 2011 which caused such a furore that Andrew had to relinquish his role as a British trade envoy.

Buckingham Palace said: “This relates to proceedings in the US, to which the Duke of York is not a party. Any suggestion of impropriety with minors is categorically untrue.”

After Ms Giuffre spoke to The New York Times yesterday, her husband directed media inquiries to her public relations and legal representatives.

Ms McCawley said in a statement: “We are hopeful that the government will continue to investigate and will focus on those who participated and facilitated Epstein’s horrifying sex trafficking scheme that damaged so many.”