“One of Epstein’s most horrific but often overlooked crimes was his possession, transportation, production, and distribution of child pornography and/or child sex abuse material (together ‘CSAM’) of countless children,” the lawsuit alleges.
Two women have filed a federal lawsuit against the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, claiming their photographs were found within the late financier’s extensive collection of child pornography.
According to NBC News, the two plaintiffs are identified in court documents by the pseudonyms Jane Doe and Amy. Together, they claim that “few if any” of the other persons whose pictures were part of Epstein’s child pornography collection were ever told that their photographs are in the hands of federal investigators.
Filed Tuesday in a New York-based federal court, the lawsuit seeks class-action certification and unspecified damages; it also asks the judge overseeing the case to “design and supervise a single, coordinated program for identifying and notifying” other women whose “unlawful sexualized images” were part of Epstein’s personal collection.
“One of Epstein’s most horrific but often overlooked crimes was his possession, transportation, production, and distribution of child pornography and/or child sex abuse material (together ‘CSAM’) of countless children,” the lawsuit alleges.
“Beginning in the early 1990s until his death in 2019, Epstein, along with his co-conspirators, created and participated in a multi-decade, vast CSAM conspiracy,” attorneys say.
NBC News notes that the lawsuit claims that Epstein kept a “modelling book” containing “sexualized images of children” in a locked safe. Epstein, who was never charged with possession of CSAM, later said that the photographs were collected “for the purposes of developing child models for Victoria’s Secret.”
“Although they claimed that the ‘book’ was for the purposes of developing child models for Victoria’s Secret, the book contained nude or partially nude sexualized images of children,” the lawsuit alleges.
Jane Doe, one of the two plaintiffs, said that she was about 12 years old when “Epstein stole partially nude photographs of her” that were “taken as part of an artist study.”
“In Epstein’s possession and given the manner in which he obtained, catalogued, and retained them alongside a collection of sexualized images of children, the Jane Doe images constituted a lascivious exhibition,” the lawsuit claims. “Despite contemporaneous reports made to law enforcement, specifically alerting law enforcement that Epstein had obtained these photos of Jane Doe, and similar photos of another minor, no one in law enforcement took action to prosecute anyone or even investigate these reports.”
Amy’s photographs, meanwhile, have been in circulation since at least the 1990s. Sometimes called the “Misty” series, the images “consistently appear in collections maintained by individuals who possess child pornography.” Amy, like Doe, says that she was never notified that her pictures were being used by Epstein for any purpose whatsoever.
“This lawsuit holds Jeffrey Epstein’s estate accountable for a crime that has never been fully addressed on its own terms,” Hillary Nappi of AWK Survivor Advocate Attorneys said in an email statement reviewed by NBC News.
“We want the estate to preserve and account for everything seized from Epstein’s properties, and we want a real, court-supervised process to identify and notify every survivor depicted in that collection,” Nappi said. “Many of them have no idea their images exist in his files, and they deserve to know, and they deserve the chance to seek justice.”
Sources
New lawsuit alleges Epstein possessed ‘child sexual abuse material of countless children’
Women sue Epstein’s estate, saying their photos were found in his vast child porn collection
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