NY Billionaire Faces 2nd Sex Lawsuit
Criminal Law
A teenage girl filed a $50 million lawsuit against a New York billionaire Thursday, saying he sexually abused her when she was 14.
Jeffrey Epstein's attorney, Lilly Ann Sanchez, said the allegations are false and motivated by money.
The girl, now 17 and identified only as Jane Doe, claims Epstein invited her to his Palm Beach mansion in 2005 to perform a massage for $300. She claims he demanded she remove her clothes, then sexually assaulted her, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in West Palm Beach.
"Jane experienced confusion, shame, humiliation, embarrassment, and the assault sent her life into a downward spiral," the lawsuit states.
The girl, her father and stepmother are seeking more than $50 million.
"It is our belief that this is completely financially motivated," Sanchez said. She said the girl told Epstein she was 18, and regardless, he did nothing inappropriate with her.
The teen is also at the center of a criminal case against Epstein in Florida, said her lawyer, Jeffrey Herman.
Epstein, 55, is charged with one felony count of solicitation of prostitution. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors declined to charge Epstein with soliciting a minor for sex, as Palm Beach police recommended. The state attorney's office declined to comment about the criminal case.
The teen's father pleaded guilty in 2001 to three federal fraud counts accusing him of arranging fraudulent loans as a mortgage broker in a scheme to collect commissions from sales. He was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison. The Associated Press is not naming the father to protect the girl's identity.
The father, who was also at the news conference, declined to comment on his own criminal case.
"Quite frankly, we're very, very angry," he said, adding that Epstein destroyed his "daughter's innocence."
Epstein, a money manager, also was sued last year in New York by a woman who claims he had sex with her at his Manhattan mansion in 2000 when she was 16.
"I think it's unfortunate that Mr. Epstein doesn't see what he's done to these young people and just look to reach a reasonable settlement with them," said that woman's attorney, William J. Unroch.
Gerald Lefcourt, Epstein's New York attorney, also denied the allegations in the New York case. He also said in court papers that Unroch and his client, who is actually a man living as a female, filed a similar lawsuit in a separate case.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.