According to legal documents unsealed by the U.S. Department of Justice, the initial identified survivor in the Jeffrey Epstein case was just thirteen years old when she encountered the convicted sex offender. This meeting occurred during the summer of 1994 at the Interlochen Center for the Arts camp located in Michigan.
The young girl, a Florida resident participating in a voice program, was sitting alone on a bench between classes when Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell approached her. The DOJ records state they "probed her at length about her background" and requested her mother's contact information. After she returned to Florida, Epstein contacted her mother, presenting himself as a mentor who offered scholarships to young people.
Following this initial contact, the lawsuit alleges Epstein and Maxwell engaged in a grooming process over several months. They took the victim on outings to movies and shopping trips, and spent time at Epstein's properties. The legal filing notes that after "nearly every" such visit, the girl was sent home with two or three hundred-dollar bills intended for her mother.
"While these visits made Doe extremely uncomfortable, Epstein and Maxwell made her feel she could not refuse them," the document states, using pseudonyms for the victim.
The lawsuit further describes an incident where Epstein brought the victim, then aged fourteen, to the Mar-a-Lago club and introduced her to Donald Trump. According to the filing, "Epstein elbowed Trump playfully, asking him, referring to Doe, 'This is a good one, right?' Trump smiled and nodded in agreement. They both chuckled, and Doe felt uncomfortable, but, at the time, was too young to understand why."
Over the subsequent years, the alleged abuse intensified, involving sexual assault and rape at Epstein's various residences. In 1996, when the victim was sixteen, Epstein arranged her relocation from Florida to New York City. Months later, he co-signed a lease for an apartment for her mother.
By 1999, the young woman moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career, which the lawsuit describes as her opportunity to "finally felt like she could escape Epstein's abuse." She ceased responding to his frequent calls, during which he allegedly threatened and berated her for lack of appreciation.
"Despite Doe's physical escape from Epstein and Maxwell, the years of abuse and exploitation perpetrated against her by them cause her immeasurable pain and suffering every day," the legal complaint concludes.
This civil action was filed in January 2020 by a Los Angeles law firm against the executors of Epstein's estate and against Ghislaine Maxwell individually.
Michigan Links in Released Documents
The Interlochen connection is not the only Michigan reference within the Epstein file disclosures. In December, the Justice Department released a 2019 letter purportedly from Epstein to Larry Nassar, the former sports doctor convicted of sexually abusing young athletes associated with the U.S. Olympic team and Michigan State University.
The letter's salutation read, "Dear L. N." and contained disturbing content, including the line: "We shared one thing ... our love & caring for young ladies at the hope they'd reach their full potential."
The latest document release included numerous video clips and heavily redacted files. The Justice Department noted on social media that some materials contain "untrue and sensationalist claims" made against Donald Trump prior to the 2020 election.
In response to the revelations, Interlochen issued a statement confirming Epstein was a donor to the camp from 1990 through 2003. The institution stated it has "a wide range of measures in place to ensure a safe, supportive environment for all students" and that reviews following Epstein's 2008 conviction and 2019 arrest found no complaints involving him in their records.
The statement also expressed a commitment to child welfare and cooperation with authorities, encouraging anyone impacted by abuse to report their experiences.
