Jennifer Araoz says Jeffrey Epstein “forcefully raped” her when she was just 15 years old after playing off her dreams of a career in acting to “recruit” her.
Araoz came forward with new allegations against Epstein in an interview with NBC News aired Wednesday. Araoz’s accusations are not part of the New York district attorney’s current indictment against the wealthy financier for allegedly operating a child sex ring.
Araoz says Epstein’s secretary approached her and began recruiting her. The recruiter visited with her several times, offering to buy her lunch or a Coke and talking up Epstein’s generosity.
The recruiter introduced Araoz to Epstein. The 66-year-old began inviting Araoz over to his New York mansion once or twice a week when he was in town to give a “massage.” The sessions almost always involved sexual acts and Epstein paid Araoz about $300 after each session.
Araoz described a typical encounter with Epstein:
“I’d have just my underwear on. That’s how he liked it. I would just give massages back then, he would potentially, later on, turn over and play with himself. He would also like when I would play with his nipples, he used to get turned on by that. Then he would finish himself off, then that would be the end of it. He would still give me the $300, you know. Normally, I would either get it from the secretary, who would leave it in a drawer, or in the massage room.”
Araoz said Epstein was aware of how old she was, or at the very least that she was underage. She said that she had told the recruiter and mentioned how young she was in front of Epstein.
“He knew very well my age,” she said. “I don’t think he cared.”
One massage session after Araoz turned 15, Epstein escalated from sexual touching and “forcefully raped” her.
“He very forcefully kind of brought me to the table. I just did what he told me to do. I was really scared. I didn’t necessarily think he was going to rape me,” Araoz said. “I don’t want to say I was screaming or anything of that nature. But I was terrified, and I was telling him to stop. Please stop, you know.”
“He had no intentions of stopping. That’s what he wanted and that’s what he got,” Araoz said.
That “massage session” was Araoz’s last. She refused to continue going to Epstein’s house and dropped out of a prestigious performing arts school. She had gained entrance to the school before ever meeting Epstein, but dropped out because it was close to Epstein’s house.
“What hurts even more so is that if I wasn’t afraid to come forward sooner, then maybe he wouldn’t have done it to other girls,” Araoz said. “I feel really guilty. To this day, I feel really guilty.”
FBI and New York police arrested Epstein on Saturday when his plane landed in New York after he spent several weeks in Paris. Epstein is charged with one count of sex trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
[Related: Trump claims he was ‘not a fan’ of Jeffrey Epstein]
