The Epstein Victims’ Compensation Program (VCP) was established to help alleviate some of the damage resulting from Jefferey Epstein’s reprehensible sexual abuse of women and girls. Anyone who endured sexual abuse from Epstein can file a claim to recover the compensation she deserves.
If you are a victim of Jeffrey Epstein, Pintas & Mullins Law Firm can help you file your claim and seek justice.
The deadline to register your allegations so you can be considered for compensation from the Epstein VCP fund is February 8, 2021. The deadline for filing a claim is March 25, 2021.
Call us today at (800) 219-9622 for a free consultation.
Why the Fund Was Created
For 17 years, Epstein sexually abused women and girls and forced them to provide sex services to the rich and powerful clientele of his sex trafficking ring. The abuse occurred from 2001 to 2018 at multiple estates in New York, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, France, and New Mexico. These victims, ranging in age from 12 to 17 years of age, suffered physical, emotional, and psychological abuse that has left lifelong scars.
The Epstein estate consulted with the attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands and with attorneys for various victims to create the program. Individuals who register as claimants will have their claims reviewed and, if eligible for compensation, could receive anywhere from thousands to millions of dollars, according to Jordana H. Feldman, the VCP fund Administrator.
By accepting payment from the VCP, a victim waives her right to file an individual lawsuit against the estate. In return, the claimant receives compensation without having to endure the publicity or wait for the resolution of her court case, which could take years.
About the Epstein VCP
Victims of Epstein’s abuse can receive payments from the Epstein VCP—an entirely confidential, voluntary, and non-adversarial program. The VCP began accepting claims from victim-survivors of Epstein’s sexual abuse on June 25, 2020.
To qualify for consideration by the Epstein VCP Administrator, claimants with new allegations of sexual abuse by Epstein must register their allegations on or before February 8, 2021. The filing deadline for claims is March 25, 2021.
Pintas & Mullins Law Firm represents victims of sexual assault who want to recover compensation for the physical, emotional, and financial damages they have endured. We strongly believe that anyone who suffered sexual abuse by Epstein deserves to recover losses. We will fight for your right to receive compensation from the Jeffrey Epstein Victims’ Compensation Fund.
For a free legal consultation with a Jeffrey Epstein Victims Compensation Lawyer serving nationwide, call (800) 794-0444
Important Details About the Epstein Victims’ Compensation Program
Decisions regarding claimants’ eligibility and compensation fall under the exclusive authority of Feldman, the VCP fund Administrator. A prominent sexual abuse expert, Professor Marci A. Hamilton, consults the Administrator on her decisions.
The Epstein Estate will pay claimants in accordance with Feldman’s determinations and cannot change or deny compensation or eligibility that Feldman has authorized. Payouts are not limited by any caps, according to a statement by Feldman.
Release of Future Liability
If you accept payment from the Epstein VCP, you must agree to waive your rights to file a future lawsuit aimed at obtaining additional damages from the estate, as well as Epstein’s employees, or those who were “engaged by his entities,” Feldman explained.
However, participation in the VCP is completely voluntary. This means that even if you file a claim to receive compensation from the fund, if you are not satisfied with the amount the program offers, you do not have to accept the payment. As such, you retain your right to seek compensation via a civil lawsuit against the Epstein Estate.
If you do accept payment from the program, and you consequently release the estate from future liability, you still can file a lawsuit against anyone not employed by Epstein to whom you were sexually trafficked.
Furthermore, you are free to share information to help criminal investigations, and you are permitted to share your story in any public format you wish.
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Terms of Eligibility
If by the effective date of June 25, 2020, you had already filed a claim or lawsuit against Epstein and/or the Epstein Estate for sexual abuse you endured at Epstein’s hands, you can participate in the Epstein VCP.
If you suffered sexual abuse by Epstein but had not filed a claim or legal action by the effective date of June 25, 2020, you, too, can participate in the program by completing a registration form on the Epstein VCP website.
Even if a court would have barred your case—perhaps due to an expired statute of limitations—or if you had a prior settlement, you can still apply for compensation through the program.
The answers you provide in this form play a significant role in your ability to recover compensation from the Epstein VCP fund. Consider talking to a Pintas & Mullins Law Firm lawyer before you attempt to file a claim on your own, as the process is complicated.
Let us help protect your rights. We will respect your need for confidentiality, and we will handle your claim with the utmost respect and professionalism.
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Epstein Lawsuit Payout
The Epstein lawsuit “payout” consists of yet undetermined amounts of money that the Epstein Compensation Program (VCP) Administrator Jordana Feldman will award to victims of Epstein’s sexual abuse.
Women who suffered sexual abuse by Epstein, whether as girls or as women, can participate in the VCP program and apply for compensation from the fund.
How the Fund Works
The fund draws from Epstein’s Virgin Islands estate to settle claims against Epstein out of court. The 66-year-old financier’s worth has been established as $577,672,654. This amount represents around $18 million more than the amount Epstein claimed in court documents while seeking bail on his federal sex-trafficking charges, according to the New York Post.
Women who survived sexual abuse from Epstein can submit a claim to Feldman. She will review all applications submitted through this process and offer each victim a proposed settlement offer.
Victims can choose to either accept or reject Feldman’s settlement offer. If they accept, they must renounce any existing or future claims against Epstein’s estate, any of its employees, and any of its agents. However, victims who accept VCP offer still retain the right to pursue legal action against the estate and other related parties for the sex-trafficking scheme that Epstein operated.
Once a victim receives her compensation, she must, within three days “dismiss with prejudice any legal actions whether lawsuits, probate claims or otherwise that Releasor has filed against any Releasees, with each party to bear her, his or its own costs and attorneys fees.”
Victims who reject Feldman’s offer can still pursue legal claims against the Epstein estate for both sexual abuse and for injuries suffered from the sex-trafficking operation.
Women who participate in the VCP fund have the right to remain anonymous. On the other hand, they also retain their right to share their compensation and their experiences with the public.
Participation in the VCP Looks Promising
Most plaintiffs who filed legal claims against the Epstein estate for Epstein’s sexual abuse have voiced their interest in staying their civil lawsuits and seeing what kind of compensation the Epstein VCP offers them through this non-adversarial process.
According to an article published in The U.S. Sun, the number of individuals or entities seeking payouts from the Epstein fund doubled from the time of the estate executors’ quarterly accounting report for the estate to the time the article published on May 5, 2020.
Most of Epstein’s sexual abuse victims filed their complaints in various New York courts—10 in federal court (Southern District of New York), which is where Epstein was being tried before he died while in federal custody in August 2019.
Of these 10 victims, six elected to remain anonymous. The other four have publicly announced their allegations against Epstein. They include:
- Maria Farmer
- Annie Farmer
- Teresa Helm
- Juliette Bryant
Nine other complaints were filed in New York State Supreme Court. One such complaint includes nine “Jane Doe” plaintiffs. Other plaintiffs include Teala Davies and Jennifer Araoz. Davies claims that after years of abuse by Epstein, he moved on after the plaintiff told him she suffered from an eating disorder.
Araoz named three additional women who participated in Epstein’s warped world of sexual abuse:
- Ghislaine Maxwell
- Lesley Groff
- Cimberly Espinosa
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Epstein Lawsuit Judge
Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the Epstein estate, but the Epstein fund did not stem from any single case, nor did a judge involved in hearing one of these cases order the creation of this fund. Rather, to avoid litigation in these lawsuits filed by sex abuse victims—many of whom took action after Epstein’s death—representatives of the Epstein estate requested permission from the U.S. Virgin Islands’ attorney general to establish the fund.
According to CNN, lawyers for the executors of Epstein’s estate negotiated for months with attorneys representing the financier’s alleged victims before a U.S. Virgin Islands probate judge approved the compensation program.
Lawsuit From USVI Attorney General
The Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands filed its own lawsuit alleging that Epstein engaged in sex trafficking, taking underage girls to his USVI homes and forcing them to provide sex services for Epstein and influential associates and friends between 2001 and 2018. According to the lawsuit, Epstein transported his victims using a network of private helicopters, planes, boats, and other vehicles to take underage girls and young women to his private residence on Little St. James.
The lawsuit further states the girls and women were then “deceptively subjected to sexual servitude, forced to engage in sexual acts and coerced into commercial sexual activity and forced labor.” Girls between the ages of 12 and 17 endured years of exploitation and molestation.
Criminal Charges
According to The Miami Herald’s 2018 journalistic investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, 80 women had alleged that Epstein had abused or molested them at his Palm Beach estate. He had been granted immunity from federal prosecution after cutting a secret deal with U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta for sex abuse charges brought against Epstein in 2005.
The 2005 case ended with Epstein pleading guilty to solicitation of prostitution and the procurement of minors for prostitution. He also registered as a sex offender in 2008.
The multimillionaire financier was also arrested on July 6, 2019 under federal criminal charges alleging he ran a sex trafficking operation at his Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida homes. As with the USVI trafficking, Epstein allegedly used associates and employees—and sometimes paid other victims—to lure more girls to his homes in these locations and/or recruit them to engage in Epstein’s deviant sexual practices.
Civil Lawsuits
Business Insider reported on August 15, 2020 that nine additional women brought a lawsuit against the Epstein estate. In this claim, plaintiffs describe sexual abuse commencing as far back as 1978. Five of the victims say they were minors—one 11 and another 13.
According to the lawsuit, “Plaintiffs were all sexually battered, assaulted, and abused by Epstein as a part of the same conduct, occurrence, plan, scheme and/or transaction that was perpetrated, conducted, organized and/or performed in New York, Florida, New Mexico, South Carolina, California, the United States Virgin Islands and other places by Epstein and his associates.”
An Opportunity to Be Heard
No amount of money can mend the abuse and trauma experienced by Epstein’s victims, and the VCP administrators know this to be true. Still, they hope that those afflicted will find the courage to step forward in this anonymous and confidential forum, if for no other reason than simply to be heard.
“This program provides victims of Jeffrey Epstein the opportunity to be heard outside the glare of public courtroom proceedings, and to receive acknowledgment by an independent third party as to the legitimacy of their experience and the long-term suffering it has wrought,” Feldman explained in a statement.
The private nature of the program has encouraged the participation of many of Epstein’s victims who otherwise did not feel comfortable enduring the publicity of a courtroom trial. By the program’s June 25, 2020 launch date, 70 victims had expressed an interest in participating in the program, according to Feldman.
Epstein Abuse Allegations
The First Allegations
Specifically, the high school girl who is acknowledged as the first complainant against Epstein visited Epstein’s home with another girl with whom she attended Royal Palm Beach High School. There, the girl was instructed to give Epstein a massage, for which he paid her, according to the Miami Herald.
When police investigated, they found evidence confirming the girl’s story, along with contact information for other girls. Just over a year after the investigation began, police charged Epstein with multiple counts of unlawful sex acts with a minor. Only one girl’s testimony was presented to a grand jury, resulting in a single indictment of one count of solicitation.
Other Victims Emerge
The FBI intervened and in November 2006 began interviewing other potential victims of Epstein’s sex abuse. The victims came from not only Florida, but also New York and New Mexico, where Epstein owned other large estates.
The women’s stories were grimly similar. They alleged that upon arriving at Epstein’s home, they were instructed to undress and massage Epstein, who would masturbate and, in turn, molest the girls. On occasion, girls were forced to have sex with Epstein or to engage in sexual acts with his assistant. Each girl was paid for her services.
Epstein’s lawyers negotiated a plea agreement that adjudicated him as a convicted sex offender, resulting in an 18-month sentence, of which he served 13 months, mostly on work release. The victims knew nothing of the agreement, and the plea records were sealed.
By September of 2009, a dozen or so women had filed civil lawsuits against Epstein. Each plaintiff alleged that Epstein molested them when they were minors. The cases were settled out of court.
Sealed Court Documents Shed New Light on Epstein’s Abusive Acts
CNN reported that on August 9, 2019, hundreds of previously sealed court documents brought to light sexual abuse claims against Jeffrey Epstein. The documents stemmed from a 2015 defamation case in which Virginia Roberts Giuffre alleged that she was kept as Epstein’s teenage “sex slave.”
Giuffre had filed the lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate who worked with Epstein, allegedly recruiting new women and girls, many of them underage, for Epstein to sexually abuse.
According to the unsealed documents, the girls were also instructed to engage in sex acts with Epstein’s associates and friends, a collection of influential, wealthy, and prominent figures from political, royal, business, and celebrity circles. Specifically, Giuffre alleged that she was told to have sex with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former US Sen. George Mitchell, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and attorney Alan Dershowitz.
Another alleged victim of Epstein’s sex abuse also revealed in the unsealed documents that she, too, was coerced to perform sexual acts with Prince Andrew, among others.
Additional Findings
Other evidence found in the unsealed documents included:
- Amazon receipts for books Epstein ordered on the subjects of “slavecraft,” erotic servitude, and sadomasochism
- Medical records from Giuffre’s hospital visits during her period of sexual abuse, detailing three weeks of vaginal bleeding, fainting, and weight loss
The unsealing of the case documents exposed the depth, breadth, and horror of Epstein’s systematic sexual abuse of women and girls, along with “the scope and scale and ugliness of the Epstein/Maxwell sex trafficking ring,” according to Giuffre’s attorney David Boies.
Robbed of Their Innocence and of Their Day in Court
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 to face charges of sex trafficking. He died of apparent suicide in a New York jail while awaiting trial. Although his accusers did not have the chance to confront Epstein in court as many hoped to do, a New York court held a hearing in which the victims were allowed to share their stories of abuse before dismissing the case against Epstein.
The New York Times reported that 16 women spoke in court. Lawyers of seven other victims read their statements on the accusers’ behalf.
Again, the tales of horror were consistent across all cases.
These women said they were recruited and groomed. Then they were forced to have sex with Epstein.
- Anouska De Georgiou said Epstein sexually abused her when she was a naïve teenager.
- Chauntae Davies said she spent two weeks in a hospital after Epstein raped her at his estate on his private Caribbean island, according to the Daily Mail.
- An anonymous victim also said she was raped and described herself as Epstein’s “slave.” She also told the court how Epstein threatened to kill her if she was not a virgin.
- Yet another anonymous victim said Epstein took her virginity at his ranch in New Mexico in 2004. She was only 15 years old.
According to The New York Times, Maria Farmer and her sister Annie, on separate occasions, allegedly had been sexually assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell around 1996. They informed the New York Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the assaults, but nothing ever came of their reports.
Little Saint James
According to CBS News, Epstein had purchased Little Saint James, an island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He allegedly flew prominent figures there to engage in sex with underage girls who Epstein had flown to the estate for this purpose, as described in Film Daily.
Nine More Victims
In a November 2019 lawsuit, several months after Epstein’s death, nine additional women stepped forward to accuse Epstein of sexually abusing them as girls and young women. These abuses began as far back as 1985, with Epstein allegedly targeting victims as young as 13 years of age, according to Reuters. By this time, more than 20 women were seeking compensation from Epstein’s estate.
According to the plaintiffs—who are referred to in the lawsuit as Jane Doe I through Jane Doe IX—Epstein abused them for a period of over 20 years. Six of the victims said they had been raped.
Jane Doe II reported that at the age of 23, she had been sexually assaulted, battered, and abused by Epstein. Jane Doe I’s abuse began when she was 14 years old, and Jane Doe III said she was 13 when Epstein began sexually abusing her.
Who Is Jeffrey Epstein and What Did He Do?
Jeffrey Epstein was a wealthy and well-connected financier who sexually abused dozens of women and underaged girls on his various estates in Florida, New York, New Mexico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Paris, France.
A registered sex offender, Epstein also operated a massive sex trafficking ring for his rich and powerful friends and associates. He died while in custody at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center as he awaited trial on the sex-trafficking charges filed against him.
Since his death, the Epstein Victims’ Compensation Fund was established to pay money to Epstein’s victims, who never had the opportunity to confront their abuser in court.
From Teacher to Trader
Epstein was born in Coney Island, New York in 1953 and raised there by his working-class parents. He completed high school, but despite attending classes at Cooper Union and NYU’S Courant Institute, he never obtained a college degree.
In his early career, Epstein taught physics and calculus at Manhattan’s Dalton School. He made a career move in 1976, when he began working as an options trader at Bear Stearns. There Epstein advised the firm’s wealthiest clients on their portfolios’ tax implications. Six years later, he founded J. Epstein & Co. investment bank, which catered to families and individuals with at least $1 billion. He re-incorporated his company in St. Thomas as Financial Trust Co.
Landon Thomas Jr., the author of a 2002 New York magazine profile piece on Epstein, praised the billionaire’s lean operation, which consisted of 20 accountants and a “bevy of assistants—many of them conspicuously attractive young women—to organize his hectic life.”
A Sexual Abuser
In March 2005, the first indications of Epstein’s sexual abuse of underaged girls emerged after a 14-year-old girl’s stepmother alerted Florida’s Palm Beach Police Department that the girl was paid to remove her clothes and give sexual massages to Epstein at his Palm Beach mansion.
An 11-month police investigation followed, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also launched its own investigation into the matter. Prompted by the evidence of this investigation, the FBI drafted a 53-page federal indictment of Epstein on sex crime charges.
Epstein eventually pleaded guilty to one count of sex crimes involving a minor girl in Palm Beach and one count of solicitation. However, the four-page ruling highlighted volumes of evidence that the billionaire had abused more victims, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.
Deal of a Lifetime
The 2008 conviction resulted from a deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami, which included a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) that shielded Epstein from further federal prosecution. Instead, for his crimes, the sex offender served 13 months of an 18-month sentence in county jail—carried out with a liberal work-release program, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Because of this criminal conviction, in 2011 a New York court ordered Epstein to register as a Level 3 sex offender—a status that marked him as demonstrating a “high risk of repeat offense and a threat to public safety,” according to the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services.
At the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) hearing, Epstein’s attorneys tried to appeal to the court for a lower, Level 1, sex offender status. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Gaffney supported Epstein’s request, despite the multiple other charges of sexual abuse with minors that, for some reason, the Florida state attorney failed to prosecute. Still, Epstein was classified as a Level 3 sex offender.
Dozens of Lawsuits and Settlements
As of the 2011 SORA ruling, more than two dozen lawsuits were filed against Epstein by teenagers who reported being lured to his Palm Beach, Florida mansion, where they were paid to administer sexual massages and/or sex for money. Epstein settled every lawsuit, as per the Palm Beach Daily News.
AP News reported that in August 2019, three anonymous lawsuits were filed against Epstein from women claiming that he had raped them in repeated attacks up to 2010. One woman claimed that Epstein engaged in commercial sex acts with her as he carried out his Florida work release sentence.
According to TIME, in August 2019, Epstein’s victims testified against Epstein at a court hearing for claims of sexual abuse. The women, some of whom were under the age of consent at the time of their sexual abuse, explained how the billionaire used his social and political connections, as well as his financial standing, to control them and continued abusing them for years.
Ringleader for a Sex Trafficking Ring for the Powerful and Elite
On July 3, 2019, a U.S. appellate requested the release of documents previously sealed in a 2015 defamation lawsuit filed by alleged Epstein sex abuse victim, Virginia Giuffre. She had filed the suit against alleged Epstein sex trafficking recruiter Ghislaine Maxwell, after Maxwell made defamatory statements about Giuffre.
In Giuffre’s original 2015 complaint, she accused Epstein of sexually abusing her between 1999 and 2002 at various Epstein properties, including those in Palm Beach and New York. In addition, she accused Maxwell of participating in the sexual abuse with Epstein. She also spoke of abuse by acquaintances of Epstein, including politicians, royalty, businessmen, and other prominent figures.
By unsealing the documents, Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise would be exposed.
On July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested at a New Jersey airport on sex trafficking charges. Because of the 2008 non-prosecution agreement, Epstein’s lawyers were prepared to argue that sex trafficking charges were negated, reported the Associated Press.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York issued its indictment on July 8, 2019. Per the indictment, between the years of 2002 and 2005, Epstein had “sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes in Manhattan, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida, among other locations” and that he used cash to recruit a “vast network of underage victims,” as young as 14 years of age.
Epstein died by apparent suicide in August 2019. His body was found in his cell where he awaited his trial date for sex trafficking. A judge had denied Epstein bail, considering him too great a risk.
Call Pintas & Mullins Law Firm Today
The legal team at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm strongly believes that every woman or girl who suffered from Epstein’s sex trafficking ring deserves compensation. We have handled sexual abuse cases in our practice, and we can put our knowledge to use in helping you get justice.
Call Pintas & Mullins Law Firm today at (800) 219-9622 for a free consultation.
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