The Adult Women Caught in Epstein’s Web of Abuse

Key Takeaways

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  Epstein pivoted to trafficking adult women to evade law enforcement - After his 2008 conviction, Epstein deliberately targeted legal-age women to avoid the same level of scrutiny he received for crimes against minors.

  “As long as they're of legal age, he felt that that would mean that the authorities wouldn't come after him. And unfortunately, he was right that he didn't get as much scrutiny because he was sex trafficking adults.”

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  Victims were trapped through institutional and personal leverage - Epstein maintained control by funding modeling agencies to manage women's work visas while simultaneously using compromising photos and financial dependency as 'kompromat.'

  “Svetlana was trapped, not just because she worked for Epstein or because he had these compromising images of her, but also because he controlled her visa and immigration status through the modeling agency that he funded.”

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  The operation functioned like a psychological pyramid scheme - Epstein coerced his victims into recruiting other women, using the resulting feelings of complicity and shame to ensure the original victims wouldn't go to the authorities.

  “People who are involved in the case have called it similar to a pyramid scheme. Several of the victims that are public even now, they have admitted that they also recruited and brought in other girls, you know, into his scheme.”

Episode Description

Get your tickets to our L.A. live show here!After Jeffrey Epstein’s death, Svetlana Pozhidaeva said she finally felt free. The former Russian model, who became one of Epstein’s “assistants” and a victim of his abuse, changed her name and moved to another city. Then the Epstein files dropped. WSJ’s Khadeeja Safdar unspools Pozhidaeva’s story and what it reveals about who Epstein allegedly ensared and how he did it. Jessica Mendoza hosts. Further Listening: - How Jeffrey Epstein Made Millions From His Connections - The Growing Fallout From the Epstein Files - Trump’s Letter to Jeffrey Epstein Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices