A Jeffrey Epstein accuser is suing his estate for $500 million after claiming she developed a rare bone disease because the pedophile hit her in the face while raping her at his New York townhouse.
Caroline Kaufman, 27, is seeking the eight-figure sum through her lawyer, Spencer Kuvin, after earlier rejecting a smaller offer from a compensation fund set up for Epstein’s victims.
Kaufman says she was raped by Epstein in 2011 after she went to his home for a ‘model casting’. During the ordeal, Kaufman claims Epstein pinned her arm behind her back and ‘nicked her jaw’ with his hand.
That action allegedly led Kaufman to develop osteomyelitis – a serious bone disease that causes severe swelling and pain.
Kaufman says the condition has recently worsened, prompting her to seek the large sum of money from the estate of her alleged rapist.
‘It’s been difficult the past few months. I was going to go with the victims’ fund but the offer was too low, it’s not enough to cover surgery,’ Kaufman told The Sun.
‘It’s extremely painful, I’ve been to the emergency room for it, my face is swollen and I’m on medication’.
She added: ‘I’ve lost days of work, I ride horses, I feel physically exhausted because of it, and I’ve had difficulty eating’.
Kaufman says she wants to secure the money for her surgery, but also has plans to start a charity to help other victims of sexual assault.
Caroline Kaufman is suing Jeffrey Epstein’s estate for $500 million after claiming she developed a rare bone disease after the pedophile hit her in the face while raping her at his New York townhouse.
Epstein is pictured in 2004. The disgraced pedophile died behind bars in 2019
Kaufman was allegedly lured to Epstein’s palatial townhouse on the Upper East Side
Kaufman was just 17 years old when she alleges she was approached by a woman at a horse show in upstate New York about a ‘modelling opportunity’.
The woman is said to have later called Kaufman and invited her to Epstein’s palatial Upper East Side townhouse for a dubious ‘casting session’.
There, Kaufman claims, she was raped by Epstein – an event which caused her life to subsequently spiral out of control.
‘I went through a long period of depression and stopped riding horses. I didn’t think I was good for much, and used for sex,’ she told The Sun.
‘I went down the wrong path, I started stripping at 18 and I also got into porn, that whole lifestyle has drugs involved and it’s been a hard road of recovery.’
Kaufman says she also met Prince Andrew during one trip to Epstein’s home. The royal’s career has been ruined over his friendship with Epstein, but he has denied claims of wrongdoing.
Kaufman says she did tell anyone about her osteomyelitis until recently, because she didn’t ‘want to explain’ that Epstein had raped her.
Her attorney, Spencer Kuvin, told the publication: ‘Caroline has a very serious medical condition she has had to take care of, and she has a very uncertain future as a result.
‘As far as her medical condition is concerned, I would leave medical causation issues up to the physician.’
In June of last year, the Epstein Victims’ Compensation Fund began accepting claims from victims of the late pedophile.
The businessman – whose estate was reported to be worth $630million – died behind bars in 2019 before he had a chance to stand trial.
By February 2021, the program received 150 claim applications and paid out nearly $50million, administrators said.
However, the fund abruptly stopped distributing payments to recipients due to liquidity problems.
Court filings in the US Virgin Island showed Epstein’s estate had dramatically dropped in value.
By the end of 2020, it was worth about $240.8million, including $49millon cash.
That was down from $446million at the end of September last year and lower still from the $630million the estate was initially valued at when Epstein hanged himself in his cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Recent filings also pointed toward dramatic swings in value of some Epstein entities.
His Virgin Islands company Southern Trust Co. Inc. lost more than half its value between September and December last year, dropping from $128million to $61million.
However, in a statement the EVCF said that the estate was supposed to pay ‘all eligible claims based on the administrator’s determination’ and promised it would have enough funds to pay for it.
Epstein (pictured in his 2019 mugshot) was said to be worth $630 million at the time of his death