Jeffrey Epstein met his first known underage rape victim at an exclusive $38,000-a-year Michigan summer arts camp to which he donated significant sums of money, according to a new book.
The victim was 13 years old at the time she met the convicted pedophile in 1994 at Interlochen Center for the Arts, a boarding school located in the secluded woods of northern Michigan.
Epstein and his close friend, Ghislaine Maxwell, frequented the camp and ‘befriended,’ the young girl, according to Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown.
Brown is the author of an upcoming book, Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story, detailing her years-long investigation into Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
‘The girl had just lost her father, a classical music conductor, so she was still grieving and vulnerable,’ Brown writes in the book, which was excerpted by Fox News.
Jeffrey Epstein (seen left with his longtime friend Ghislaine Maxwell in 2005) met his first known underage rape victim at an exclusive $38,000-a-year Michigan summer arts camp to which he donated significant sums of money, according to a new book
The victim was 13 years old at the time she met the convicted pedophile in 1994 at Interlochen Center for the Arts, a boarding school located in the secluded woods of northern Michigan
‘The camp maintains that they’ve never received a complaint about Epstein, and the woman, who is now living in California, has not spoken publicly.’
‘In a sworn deposition, Epstein’s former butler, [Juan] Alessi, mentioned that the girl often visited Epstein’s Florida mansion and in later years, her name appears on the flight logs of his plane,’ she added.
In January of last year, an unidentified woman filed a lawsuit alleging that she met Epstein when she was 13 under similar circumstances.
‘The woman said she was sitting alone on a bench between classes when Epstein and Maxwell approached her, telling her that they were arts patrons who wanted to give talented young artists like her scholarships,’ Brown writes.
The lawsuit accuses Epstein and Maxwell of asking her questions about her background. Eventually, Epstein asks for the girl’s phone number.
Epstein and Maxwell frequented the camp and ‘befriended,’ the young girl, according to the book Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story
He then contacted the girl’s mother, telling her that he ‘helped young talent.’ Epstein then invited the girl and her mother to his mansion in Palm Beach.
‘Over the next several months, Epstein and Maxwell tried to groom the thirteen-year-old girl. He told her to call him her “godfather,” and Maxwell befriended her like an older sister, the suit claims,’ Brown writes.
‘They took her to the movies, went shopping, and invited her to spend more and more time at the estate.
‘Soon, the sexual comments started.’
Epstein is said to have paid for the girl’s music lessons. He also gave her mother some cash.
Over the course of several years, Epstein assaulted the girl, according to the book. If she resisted, Epstein would scold her.
Epstein is alleged to have moved the girl and her mother to a New York City apartment. He also paid for her to attend a private school.
‘In 1999, when she was eighteen, she finally left him and moved away to start a new life. For a while, Epstein repeatedly called and berated her for not appreciating him,’ Brown writes.
‘But soon, the calls stopped. By then Epstein had moved on to new, younger prey.’
Last year, it was reported that a cabin in Interlochen where Epstein and Maxwell allegedly abused one of their victims was available for holiday rental.
The cabin in northern Michigan, which was once known as the Jeffrey Epstein Scholarship Lodge, was renamed the Green Lake Lodge after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2007 to soliciting underage girls, the Mirror reported.
Interlochen is one of Michigan’s most expensive private schools. Tuition alone costs some $38,000 while boarding costs nearly $60,000.
The lodge was listed in Epstein’s notorious ‘Little Black Book’ that included the names of some of his famous friends and associates, including Donald Trump, Alan Dershowitz, Harvey Weinstein’s brother Bob Weinstein, and Courtney Love.
Last year, it was reported that a cabin in Interlochen where Epstein and Maxwell allegedly abused one of their victims was available for holiday rental. The cabin, which was once known as the Jeffrey Epstein Scholarship Lodge, was renamed the Green Lake Lodge after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2007 to soliciting underage girls
The image above shows one of the guestrooms inside the cabin in Interlochen, Michigan
Epstein was known to visit the cabin at least once a year as part of an arrangement with a nearby fine arts school for children
The book also had the names of two students who had attended Interlochen.
Epstein’s address book had the entries ‘Michigan Home’ and ‘Epstein Lodge’ as well as the PO box and address for Interlochen and three local phone numbers.
From 1990 until 2003, Epstein funded the lodge as a donation to the school. Former students at Interlochen said they recalled Epstein and Maxwell appearing on campus.
Epstein stayed at the lodge for a week in August 2000.
The school said it has no record of any complaint lodged against Epstein.
It has long claimed that the school’s ‘policies would not have permitted Mr. Epstein any unsupervised access to students.’
Not only did Epstein fund the scholarship lodge, but he also hosted events for Interlochen alumni at his New York office as well as his seven-story townhouse.
Among the graduates of the Interlochen boarding school are big names such as singers Norah Jones and Jewel as well as actors Felicity Huffman and Terry Crews.
Epstein’s ties to the school stretch back to 1967, when he attended its ‘national music camp.’
According to The Daily Beast, Epstein took a course titled ‘Bassoon/Orchestra/Radio.
In January of last year, a woman filed suit against Epstein’s estate for more than $25million.
In January of last year, a woman filed suit against Epstein’s estate for more than $25million. The unnamed woman, who claims Epstein recruited her in 1994 when she was just a 13-years-old student at Interlochen, was allegedly abused for more than four years
The unnamed woman, who claims Epstein recruited her in 1994 when she was just a 13-years-old student at Interlochen, was allegedly abused for more than four years.
She says the $25million amount is to reflect ‘significant past and future pain and suffering’.
The alleged victim, Jane Doe, claims to have suffered extensive ’emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life’ after enduring ‘horrific’ rapes and sexual assaults at the hands of Epstein.
The request for compensation ‘in excess’ of $25million is one of the first numbers to emerge for individual claims against Epstein’s estate.
Epstein ‘started to slowly display his pedophilic ways when shopping with Doe and Maxwell. Instead of letting Doe pick out clothes she wanted to wear, Epstein insisted that she pick out and wear little children’s cotton underwear’, the lawsuit says.
The first abuse happened in a pool house when Epstein pulled the girl onto his lap and masturbated.
The attacks escalated to more serious sexual assaults and rapes which took place at his mansions in Palm Beach, New York and his New Mexico ranch.
The court papers claim Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump when she was 14 years old and said: ‘This is a good one, right?’
The lawsuit claims that the President ‘smiled and nodded in agreement’.
Epstein is also alleged to have attempted to recruit two other young girls who were enrolled at Interlochen – soap-opera actress Nadia Bjorlin (left) and cellist Melissa Solomon (right)
Epstein is also alleged to have attempted to recruit two other young girls who were enrolled at Interlochen.
Melissa Solomon, a cellist who attended the school when she was 14 years old, claims that she knew Epstein and Maxwell for six years, but she was never abused.
She said she cut ties with them after she refused to recruit young girls for Epstein who were enrolled at the Juilliard School in New York.
Solomon also refused an offer to meet with Prince Andrew, according to the Mirror.
One of Epstein’s alleged victims, Virginia Roberts, alleges she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew – an allegation that the British royal has denied.
Another Interlochen student that Epstein is alleged to have targeted is soap-opera actress Nadia Bjorlin.
Bjorlin’s mother said Epstein approached her daughter when she was just 13 years old in 1994.
‘My daughter was a singer,’ Fary Bjorlin said.
‘She was a baby. She was a skinny little girl, not mature for her age.
‘She was 13, but everyone thought she was 9 or 10.’
Interlochen is one of Michigan’s most expensive private schools. Tuition alone costs some $38,000 while boarding costs nearly $60,000. Among its star-studded alumna are singers Jewel (left) and Norah Jones (right)
Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman (left) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor Terry Crews (right) also attended Interlochen
Nadia Bjorlin is the daughter of the late Swedish classical conductor Ulf Bjorlin, who died the year before.
‘Epstein was a big donor and he heard about Nadia and that her father had died, so she was vulnerable, and he contacted her. He said, ‘Here’s my number,’ Fary Bjorlin said.
She said she got to know Maxwell, who then tried to set up a meeting between Nadia and Epstein.
‘I trusted Ghislaine, she was like a mother. She was always calling my house,’ Fary Bjorlin said.
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But she grew suspicious that an older man like Epstein wanted to meet her young daughter. In fact, she confronted Epstein after Maxwell tried to arrange a meeting.
‘What sort of a man approaches a young girl and asks to meet her?’ Fary Bjorlin said.
‘Ghislaine didn’t want me to meet Epstein, but I did anyway, and asked what he wanted with Nadia,’ the mother said.
‘He said he wanted to help her singing career. He said, “I’d like to be like a godfather.” It felt creepy.’
Fary Bjorlin added: ‘I kept Nadia away from him. She never met him alone. She never went anywhere with him.’
Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell is pictured above in a court sketch from an April hearing in Manhattan Federal court related to her sex trafficking case. The 59-year-old, who is currently jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, will stand trial in federal court. The trial is scheduled for November
Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking and other charges over her alleged role in procuring four teenage girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.
Her trial is set to begin in November.
The socialite daughter of the late British media mogul Robert Maxwell has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since last July, when she was arrested at a New Hampshire estate.
The federal judge presiding over her case has denied bail three times, twice rejecting a $28.5 million proposed package that would have required Maxwell to remain in a New York City dwelling with 24-hour armed guards.
Brown, the investigative journalist, has won several awards for a series of stories she wrote in November 2018.
The stories revealed how as many as 80 victims of Epstein were pressured to keep quiet about crimes that took place when they were as young as 13 and 14 years old.
Brown also revealed that Epstein was given lenient treatment by prosecutors who agreed to drop more serious federal sex trafficking charges, allowing the wealthy financier to plead guilty to state-level prostitution offenses.
