Sept 16 (Reuters) - Two women whose images as girls were found in pornography seized from Jeffrey Epstein filed a class action lawsuit on Wednesday seeking damages from the late sex offender's estate for individuals featured in his collection of thousands of pictures and videos of child sexual abuse material.
The lawsuit seeks at least$6 million on behalf of more than 40 people, some of whom were in Epstein's so-called "modeling book," a collection of sexualized images of children seized by federal investigators in 2019 from his New York home, according to thefiling in Manhattan federal district court.
Others were shown in thousands of downloaded videos and images of child sexual abuse material and other pornography taken from the late financier's properties, according to the action.
The lawsuit aims to broaden legal reckoning against Epsteinbeyond women who have sued his estate over sexual assaults, to those he exploited as children through pictures he and his associates took of them or obtained. In some cases the images were then distributedto others.
The lawsuit was filed against Epstein's former attorney DarrenIndyke and his former accountant RichardKahn, the co-executors of the Epstein estate. Daniel Weiner, a lawyer representing Indyke, declined to comment. An attorney forKahn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One of the plaintiffs, identified as Jane Doe, alleges Epstein stole partially nude photographs of her taken when she was 12. The other, using the pseudonym "Amy," says she is featured in child sexual abuse material seized from Epstein's properties in 2019 that is still being traded today.
Hillary Nappi, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said the lawsuit could potentially involve thousands of class members. She said in an interview that most people pictured in Epstein’s collection had never been identified.
The lawsuit calls for Epstein’s estate and federal authorities to work with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to identify individuals in the collection and inform them. It asks for the estate to pay class action members $150,000 each, as well as other penalties.
Epstein was convicted of soliciting sex from a minor in 2008 and charged with sex trafficking of minors in 2019, months before he was found dead in a New York jail cell, his death ruled a suicide. He was neverprosecuted for creating, obtaining or distributing child sexual abuse material.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; editing by Donna Bryson and Jonathan Spicer)
