© Gregory P. MangoAttorney Gloria Allred leaves Manhattan Federal Court with two of her clients after a hearing in the Jeffrey Epstein case on Tuesday.
Amid tears of outrage and words of courage, more than two dozen women appeared in a New York federal courtroom Tuesday at a historic hearing that could serve as a catalyst for change in the way the U.S. criminal justice system treats victims of sexual assault.
The women, many speaking for the first time, talked about how, as teenagers or women barely out of their teens, they were preyed upon, recruited and sexually abused by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who used his political, social and financial connections to lure them into a trap that would alter and, in some cases, ruin their lives.
Now grown women, some with their own children, the survivors spoke about years of self-loathing, suicidal thoughts, shame and anger — and how they still suffer trauma and depression. Now, two weeks after Epstein was found dead in his jail cell, where he was awaiting trial on newly filed sex charges, they feel angry that they've again been denied justice.
Comment: The victim's lawyers are pleading for a deeper investigation of Epstein's alleged suicide: