Another Jeffrey Epstein accuser is suing the convicted sex offender’s estate, accusing the disgraced financier of trafficking her around the world—including to a well known Hollywood producer.
In a suit filed Thursday, Teala Davies claims she was introduced to Epstein as a struggling 17-year-old and lured into his orbit with promises of financial support. For more than two years, the suit claims, Epstein assaulted her and trafficked her to his homes in New York, New Mexico, France, and other locations.
“I was the perfect victim. I was on my own and I needed help. Jeffrey Epstein preyed on me,” Davies told reporters. “I still have flashbacks, it still hurts, and like said, I am still scared. I am healing from this every day.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Representatives of Epstein's estate did not respond to a request for comment.
Epstein was awaiting trial on charges of trafficking underage girls when he was found dead in his jail cell this summer. Davies’ suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is one of at least a dozen suits filed against the disgraced millionaire’s estate after his death.
Davies, 34, was one of at least two dozen accusers who appeared in court when Epstein’s case was dismissed this summer. At the time, she made similar allegations of abuse and manipulation starting when she was 17 and added, “all I'm going to say is, today is a day of power and strength.”
Davies is being represented by Gloria Allred, who is working with several other Epstein accusers. The famed women’s rights attorney announced another suit against Epstein’s estate just three days ago, on behalf of a woman who says Epstein and his associates plied her with gifts and assaulted her when she was 15 years old.
Allred said Monday that Davies was living on her own and working full-time to support herself when she first encountered Epstein. She said the teenager had already experienced “tremendously challenging circumstances,” including being homeless for a year at age 11.
According to the suit, Davies was introduced to Epstein by her sister while the two were living in Los Angeles. Her sister, who was already allegedly a victim of Epstein, introduced the businessman as someone who could help Davies with her career aspirations. According to the suit, Epstein followed through, arranging for her to study abroad in Spain to pursue her dream of becoming a translator.
It was after Davies quit her job and gave up her apartment to move to Spain that Epstein began his predation, the complaint claims. He allegedly began sexually assaulting her and forcing her to massage him regularly—and Davies, with nowhere else to go, felt powerless to resist.
After she returned from her semester abroad—still homeless and unemployed—Epstein allegedly continued to assault her, while trafficking her to his homes around the world. He also allegedly introduced her to his famous friends, including a well-known Hollywood producer. The producer, the complaint claims, “demanded and attempted to engage in abusive sexual behavior." Davies narrowly escaped.
At the press conference Thursday, Allred provided reporters with a photo purportedly showing Epstein and Davies on a helicopter ride over the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“She is still just beginning to understand the impact of his pattern of manipulating, sexual assault and betrayal of her trust,” Allred said.
The announcement of the suit came after a calamitous interview with Britain's Prince Andrew, who remained friends with Epstein after he was accused of sexually abusing multiple underage girls and has been accused of assaulting one of Epstein’s victims himself. The prince said in the interview that he had “no recollection” of meeting the accuser, but later announced plans to “step back” from public duties for the foreseeable future.
During the press conference Monday, Allred urged Prince Andrew to cooperate with authorities in New York who are still investigating Epstein's alleged sex trafficking operation.
Attorneys for Epstein’s estate are currently trying to set up a compensation fund to pay his victims without having to litigate each claim. The attorneys asked a U.S. Virgin Islands judge last week to approve the program, which they said would give victims “the opportunity to obtain appropriate compensation and to be heard and treated with compassion, dignity and respect.”
Attorneys for some of the accusers, however, were uneasy with the idea of handing the settlement process over to Epstein’s team.
“These women have already endured horrific abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and have waited many years for justice,” said David Brodie, an attorney for one of the accusers, according to The New York Times.
“To turn their personal experiences over to one person selected by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate to make a binding decision (which may not be disputed) could be a process that may exacerbate the victimization of these brave women.”
