The Justice Department has released more than 30,000 pages so far. The timing of the release over the holidays increased the challenge of reaching people and organizations named in the documents.
Some of the victims who fell into Epstein’s world may have resided in South Carolina, according to the DOJ’s database of the Epstein files.
Court records suggest there are others like Jane Doe 5, who is among a group that has taken great efforts to remain anonymous. Some of those alleged survivors were represented by the South Carolina Victim Assistance Network, or SCVAN, a Columbia-based nonprofit organization formed in 1984 to protect and serve crime victims.
A. Marie Villafaña, an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, told Epstein lawyer Jack Goldberger in a 2008 letter that some victims were represented by SCVAN. Villafaña wrote she would provide Goldberger the lawyers’ names.
Sarah Ford, legal director for SCVAN, told The Post and Courier that she was unable to confirm the organization’s representation of victims in the Epstein case, citing legal privilege. Notices of appearance, however, would be noted in public court records, she said.
Lawyers for a New York law firm cited in court records for cases involving Jane Doe 5 and other anonymous victims did not respond to a request for comment.
Those women may have stories like Jane Doe 5. She and another girl were brought to Epstein’s mansion in Palm Beach, Fla., according to her complaint. Epstein’s assistant led them up a flight of stairs to a room with a massage table.
The financier directed the girls to undress and massage him, her complaint said. While the girls wore only their underwear, Epstein fondled them with his hand and a sex toy as he masturbated. Afterward, he paid Jane Doe 5 $200, according to her deposition.
Interactions like these scarred victims, according to Dr. Gilbert Kliman, the psychiatrist tasked with evaluating the effects of Epstein’s sexual abuse.