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Associated Press

A new accuser of Jeffrey Epstein said on Wednesday that the wealthy financier raped her in his New York mansion when she was 15.
Jennifer Araoz filed court papers seeking information from Epstein in preparation for suing him, and she aired her allegations on NBC’s Today show, though she said she has not discussed them with the authorities.
The 32-year-old make-up artist told Today she never went to police because she feared retribution from the well-connected Epstein.
“What hurts me even more so is that if I wasn’t afraid to come forward sooner, then maybe he wouldn’t have done it to other girls,” Araoz said. “I feel really guilty to this day.”

Watch @savannahguthrie’s full exclusive interview with Jeffrey Epstein accuser Jennifer Araoz, who’s sharing her story of alleged rape for the first time. pic.twitter.com/CjZdVpLz7i
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 10, 2019

Messages were left with Epstein’s lawyers seeking comment.
The US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan declined to comment on Araoz’s claims. Messages were left with New York police seeking comment on Araoz’s allegations.
The new allegation comes two days after federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein with abusing dozens of underage girls at his mansions in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, in the early 2000s.
Epstein, a 66-year-old Wall Street master of high finance with friends in very high places, pleaded not guilty on Monday to sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges – an indictment that could land him behind bars for up to 45 years.
His lawyers said in court that the allegations in the indictment could not amount to statutory rape because there was no penetration.
US billionaire accused of molesting young girls arrested in New York
Epstein has not been charged with assaulting Araoz. But the woman’s account contradicts his defence lawyers’ contention that Epstein never used violence or coerced anyone who gave him massages.
“She was a child – a child on welfare, with no father, who was groomed, recruited and preyed upon,” said one of Araoz’s lawyers, Kimberly Lerner. Araoz’s father died when she was 12.
Araoz, in her court filing and TV interview, said her first contact with Epstein came in 2001, when she was a 14-year-old high school freshman at a performing-arts high school, aspiring to become an actress.
She said she was approached outside her school by a woman who told her that Epstein was a caring person who would help her with her career.
I don’t want to say I was screaming, or anything of that nature. But I was terrified. And I was telling him to stop
Jennifer Araoz, make-up artist
Araoz found Epstein welcoming, showing her his mansion filled with exotic taxidermy and elaborately painted ceilings, while his staff offered her wine and cheese, she said.
After a few weeks of visits, each ending with a US$300 payment, she said she was escorted to a “massage room”, with a ceiling painted to resemble angels in a blue sky. There, she said, she would give him massages that would often lead to sex acts.
“I take care of you, you take care of me,” Epstein told her, according to her court papers.
If you flew the ‘Lolita Express’, the FBI wants to talk to you
She said Epstein had a painting of a naked woman that he said resembled her; she also recalled prosthetic breasts he would play with while bathing.
“It was very odd,” she said.
The visits continued once or twice a week until she turned 15, when she said Epstein told her to remove her underwear and climb on top of him.
She said she told him she did not want to but that he forcibly had sex with her anyway.

“I don’t want to say I was screaming, or anything of that nature. But I was terrified. And I was telling him to stop,” she said in the Today interview.
“He had no intentions of stopping,” she said. “He knew exactly what he was doing.”
Araoz said she was “terrified” after the assault and never returned to Epstein’s home. She even left her high school because it was so close to his mansion.
Epstein’s staff continued reaching out to her for about a year, Araoz said, but she did not respond.
Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein pleads not guilty to trafficking girls for sex
Prosecutors said a search of Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion yielded a vast trove of hundreds or even thousands of lewd photos of young women or girls.
The defence team says the federal charges should be dismissed in light of a once-secret agreement that allowed Epstein to avoid a potentially lengthy prison sentence – a case involving nearly identical allegations of Epstein sexually abusing underage girls.
Epstein pleaded guilty to lesser state charges over a decade ago and spent 13 months in jail. That plea deal was supposed to protect Epstein from federal prosecution, his lawyers said.
Federal prosecutors say the Florida deal does not apply to the Southern District of New York. They said the charges unsealed this week overlap with the earlier case but include new allegations and victims from New York.


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Sexual harassment and assault

New Jeffrey Epstein accuser Jennifer Araoz says she was 15 when financier raped her in his New York mansion

Jeffrey Epstein accuser Jennifer Araoz in an interview on NBC's Today show, which aired on July 10. Photo: NBC via Twitter

epa07704347 Members of the International media are seen outside the Upper East Side mansion of US financier Jeffrey Epstein, in New York, New York, USA, 08 July 2019. According to reports, US financier Jeffrey Epstein who was arrested on 08 July 2019 on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges, has been formally charged with two sex trafficking counts. EPA-EFE/JASON SZENES

US financier Jeffrey Epstein in a photograph taken for the sex offender registry in March 2017. Photo: New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services via Reuters

‘Lolita Express’ and the famous friends of Jeffrey Epstein, US billionaire charged with molesting dozens of girls

US prosecutors on Monday encouraged anyone with information about Epstein’s conduct to come forward, not just potential victims. Photo: AFP

epaselect epa07704203 Michelle Licata (L) and Courtney Wild (R) alleged sexual victims of American financier Jeffrey Epstein depart United States Federal Court in New York, New York, USA, 08 July 2019. According to reports, US financier Jeffrey Epstein who was arrested on 08 July 2019 on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges, has been formally charged with two sex trafficking counts. EPA-EFE/JASON SZENES

This photo shows the Manhattan residence of Jeffrey Epstein, Monday July 8, 2019, in New York. Prosecutors said Monday, federal agents investigating wealthy sex offender Jeffrey Epstein found "nude photographs of what appeared to be underage girls" while searching his Manhattan mansion. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 08: A protest group called "Hot Mess" hold up signs of Jeffrey Epstein in front of the Federal courthouse on July 8, 2019 in New York City. According to reports, Epstein will be charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

FILE PHOTO: A residence of financier Jeffrey Epstein is shown in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., March 14, 2019. Picture taken March 14, 2014. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

Jeffrey Epstein pleaded not guilty Monday to sex trafficking charges. Photo: AP

Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein pleads not guilty in New York court to trafficking girls for sex

A courtroom sketch of Jeffrey Epstein with lawyers Martin Weinberg and Marc Fernich during his arraignment in New York on Monday. Image: AP

In this courtroom artist's sketch, defendant Jeffrey Epstein, center, listens as Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller, right, addresses the court during Epstein's arraignment, Monday, July 8, 2019 in New York. Epstein pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking charges. The 66-year-old is accused of creating and maintaining a network that allowed him to sexually exploit and abuse dozens of underage girls from 2002 to 2005. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 08: US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman announces charges against billionaire financier Jeffery Epstein on July 8, 2019 in New York City. Epstein will be charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

Jeffrey Epstein, accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage women, grins for his mugshot on Floridaâ€™s sex offender registry. He once compared his crimes to 'stealing a bagel.' (Florida sex offender registry)

Members of a protest group called ‘Hot Mess’ hold up photos of Jeffrey Epstein in front of the federal courthouse in New York on Monday. Photo: AFP

Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, accused of molesting underage teen girls, arrested on sex trafficking charges

Jeffrey Epstein in 2008. He is expected to be arraigned in court on charges that he molested dozens of underage girls in New York and in Florida. Photo: AP

La mansión en Palm Beach del agresor sexual Jeffrey Epstein. (Pedro Portal/Miami herald)

News

World

United States & Canada

Make-up artist, 32, filed court papers in preparation for suing Epstein and aired her allegations on NBC’s Today show
Araoz says she never went to police because she feared retribution from well-connected billionaire


Make-up artist Jennifer Araoz filed court papers in preparation for suing US financier Jeffery Epstein and aired her allegations on NBC’s Today show.


Crime

United States

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