At least a dozen more women have reportedly come forward with accusations of sexual assault and sex trafficking since Jeffrey Epstein, a New York money manager, was arrested for such crimes last weekend.
As the Miami Herald reported Thursday, at least 12 women have reached out to attorneys in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, with their claims about Epstein, 66.
On Monday, federal prosecutors in New York formally charged Epstein, a convicted sex offender, of sex trafficking underage girls as young as 14 out of his homes in New York and Florida from 2002 to 2005.
The court documents accuse him of conspiring with others to recruit the girls and to sexually abuse and exploit them.
Of the 14 women who reached out to attorneys, four of them contacted New York attorney David Boies, five women got in touch with Palm Beach attorney Jack Scarola and Fort Lauderdale attorney Brad Edwards, and three women are being represented by Palm Beach attorney Spencer Kuvin, according to the Herald.
The five victims who contacted Scarola and Edwards said they were minors during the alleged assaults. The Herald did not identify any of the victims by name.
“The people we are speaking to are underage victims in Florida and in New York,” Scarola told the Herald. “They are not individuals whose claims have previously been part of any law enforcement investigation.”
At least two alleged victims have publicly spoken out against Epstein.
Jennifer Araoz detailed a horrific account of assault during an interview with NBC’s “Today” show on Wednesday, saying that a woman recruited her at 14 and groomed her into eventual statutory rape with Epstein when she was 15.
The Herald published a damning exposé last year on Epstein’s case. In 2008, three years after being charged with multiple counts of unlawful sex acts with a minor, a plea deal was arranged in which Epstein received a light sentence on lesser charges of soliciting prostitution, the Herald found.
He ended up serving just 13 months of part-time custody in a county jail, even though police found evidence suggesting he had regularly molested and trafficked dozens of underage girls in his Palm Beach mansion.
Epstein now faces new charges of child sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. He has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
Also on Thursday, Epstein’s lawyers asked a federal judge to release Epstein on bond and place him under house arrest in his $77 million Upper East Side mansion.
As part of the proposed bail package, Epstein offered as collateral his New York mansion and a private jet, according to The New York Times.
A hearing on Epstein’s bond is scheduled for Monday.