Jeffrey Epstein abused and raped Russian woman in months before arrest

An unidentified Russian woman says the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein trafficked, abused, raped, and manipulated her in the months leading to his July 2019 arrest, according to a new legal filing.

The lawsuit, filed with the Southern District of New York on Thursday, seeks compensatory damages from Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn as the executors of Epstein's estate and Lesley Groff, who was Epstein's assistant. The unnamed litigant, listed as "Jane Doe," also seeks punitive damages against Groff, who "facilitated Epstein’s trafficking and sexual abuse of Jane, including by purchasing plane tickets, sending money, making appointments, and sending various communications from New York." Epstein's abuse persisted into 2019, "presumably in the middle of his being investigated by federal law enforcement officials and up until his widely-reported arrest in July 2019," the lawsuit adds.

"Jane has suffered severe, ongoing harm as a result of Epstein’s abuse, including post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression. ... Jane still experiences nightmares and unwanted flashbacks to Epstein’s conduct," the filing read. "Even though Epstein is dead, Jane remains fearful every day as a result of his abuse."

Jane Doe was a college student in Moscow in 2017 when Epstein "targeted and lured her into his world" by "falsely advertising a job" for which she was invited to interview in Paris, according to the lawsuit.

"Groff knew or recklessly disregarded the facts and information that made clear that Epstein was trafficking Jane to Paris for commercial sex purposes, and that Epstein was doing so by means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion, and/or a combination of such means," the filing claims.

Once in Paris, the woman was allegedly led to a massage room, where Epstein directed her to strip down to her bra and underwear, placed a vibrator against her genitals, and masturbated to completion, leaving her "frozen with enormous fear and confusion," according to the document. After returning home to Moscow, Jane Doe was again trafficked on Oct. 9, 2017, to Paris, where Epstein again masturbated as she massaged him, the filing continues.

Jane Doe was later flown from Moscow to Palm Beach, Florida, where Epstein "physically turned Jane around and proceeded to have sex with her while standing behind her," her attorneys say.

"During this rape, Jane felt worse than she had ever felt in her life. It felt psychologically overwhelming, like she could not even understand what was happening to her. It felt like the rock bottom of her life," the filing read.

Epstein also "directed Jane to give him oral sex," and when she was unwilling to do so, he "pushed her down, onto her knees ... and forced her to give him oral sex," the filing adds.

Jane Doe took other trips arranged by Epstein or his associates in 2018 and 2019, during which he "subjected Jane to sexual acts, including penetrating her with his penis and with his fingers, forcing her to give him oral sex, using a vibrator on her, and telling her to touch his nipples while he masturbated," actions by which she was "deeply repulsed," according to the lawsuit.

"Jane's experience as a young woman in Russia has made clear that the prevailing cultural norms there are unsympathetic to survivors of sexual assault and trafficking," her attorneys wrote. "Jane's experience has been that young women are often blamed for the sexual assaults they experienced, not believed, and judged negatively because of the incidents."

Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy for allegedly abusing girls as young as 14. He killed himself in his prison cell in 2019 before he faced trial, according to authorities. Since the financier's death, his estate formed a victims' compensation fund that closed in August of this year after doling out $125 million to nearly 150 claimants.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate, was arrested in July 2020 and is set to stand trial later this year for charges of sex trafficking.