Epstein Accused of Sexual Abuse by Male Teen Intern in Lawsuit

(Bloomberg) -- A New York man alleged in a lawsuit that Jeffrey Epstein forced him into sex when he worked for the disgraced financier as a teen-aged intern in high school.

The alleged victim, identified in court documents only as M.H., said he began working for Epstein between the summer of 2013 and into the spring of 2014. The intern was under 17 when Epstein “induced” him into sexual conduct, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Queens state court. It’s the first documented allegation by an under-aged male against Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on trafficking girls for sex.

M.H. “still suffers” from the alleged abuse, according to the four-page complaint against Epstein’s estate. He “will continue to suffer great mental pain, and is incapacitated from his usual and daily pursuits,” it said.

The victim is seeking unspecified damages and legal fees at trial. Michael F. Rubin, a New York-based lawyer for the man, declined to comment on the suit.

Epstein was charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan in July 2019, but was found dead in his jail cell a month later in what authorities called a suicide. At a federal court hearing after his death, more than a dozen women who called themselves survivors spoke out and described their abuse at the hands of the financier.

A compensation fund established by Epstein’s estate in the Virgin Islands said in March it received more than 175 victim claims, with payouts topping $67 million to those eligible. Victims had until March 25 to file a claim.

The suit is M.H. v. The Estate of Jeffrey Epstein, 709067/2021, Supreme Court for the State of New York (Queens).

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