May 12, 2026, at West Palm Beach City Hall, a group of Epstein sexual assault survivors gave testimony regarding their abuse and the government's response. I listened to this hearing, which lasted about three hours, while I was out on a long walk.
The next morning, I was searching news sites for more information on the hearing and was surprised at how little was out there. This earth-shattering stuff about billionaire sexual assaults, massive government failure, and the stories of the women who survived all of this and are speaking truth to power took some serious time to find.
Under one video, someone posted, “This is awful. Why aren’t we hearing more about this?” My exact thoughts.
I went back and listened again to the hearings. Because I was now sitting at a table and not navigating roads, I was able to watch them too. I took notes and am doing my best to summarize and condense, one survivor at a time.
I’m trying to avoid editorializing. It’s not my place. The point of this exercise is to share what the survivors said. This is my attempt to help get the word out.
Each survivor speaks for eight to ten minutes. My notes should take just a minute or two to skim, if you’re so inclined. Please watch the video too and correct me if I need correcting. It’s important to get this right.
Link to hearing video:
https://www.youtube.com/live/fHntY5BVY90?si=ag85yR9MrzXJaI5V
Roza’s talk begins at 54:30 and lasts about six minutes. She stops often to wipe her nose and catch her breath. It’s obvious this hearing takes a great toll on her.
In 2008 at age 18 in her home country, Uzbekistan, Roza was recruited as a model by MC2 Model Management owner Jean-Luc Brunel.
“Coming from a financially unstable background, I was the perfect target for coercion.”
She was promised a modeling career “beyond my dreams.”
In less than six months, the modeling company secured an O-1 visa for her, despite the fact she had none of the qualifications necessary to obtain one.
(The O-1 Visa is a work visa for individuals with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or exceptional achievement in television and film.)
By May 2009, she was isolated in New York City, controlled in a manner she’d never previously experienced. Soon after her arrival, the agency claimed she owed it $10,000. She had no money, and no local family or friends to turn to for help.
The modeling company controlled every aspect of her life: where she went, how she dressed, how she looked. The agency gave her enough of an allowance to “keep me afloat,” but never enough to let her be independent.
Less than a month after arriving in the US, the agency sent her “to the home of a registered sex offender”—Jeffrey Epstein in West Palm Beach, who was under house arrest at the time, after serving 13 months of an 18 month prostitution sentence.
There, she was introduced to his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell and was told that she was a photographer who would help Roza build her portfolio.
Epstein “used the names of powerful politicians and his friendships with others in authority to demonstrate his influence." He said he was an investor in her modeling agency.
He joked about his time in jail the previous year, describing it as “a game,” and bragged about how girls would visit him in his cell.
He offered her a position answering phones at the Florida Science Foundation to help with her financial troubles.
“One day, his masseuse called me into his room, where I was molested for the first time by Jeffrey Epstein.”
Over the next three years, she was “subject to ongoing rape.”
Roza emphasized again that at the time of these rapes, Jeffrey Epstein was under house arrest “for the molestation of underage girls.”
“The fact that he could commit those acts made justice feel impossible to me” and took away Roza's ability to seek help.
She was not allowed to go back to New York City until after Epstein was released from house arrest, “where my nightmares continued.”
Those years of abuse turned into decades of fear that she still carries with her today.
She eventually stepped forward with other survivors, hoping that those who allowed this to happen would be held accountable, and was assured that her identity would be protected.
Then the Epstein files were released.
“I woke up one day with my name mentioned over 500 times.”
“While the rich and powerful remain protected by redaction, my name was exposed to the world. Now reporters from across the globe contact me. I cannot live without looking over my shoulder. I can only imagine the long-term effect this mistake will have on my life.”
“I wanted to be a doctor when I was a kid. I want to end this statement with a story.”
She then told the story of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, who in the 1800s discovered the connection between maternal deaths and lack of medical hygiene, noting particularly that it was not unusual for doctors to go from the autopsy room to the delivery ward without thoroughly washing their hands. He hypothesized that cadaver particles from the corpses were transferred to mothers giving birth, leading to deadly infections.
He advocated for thorough handwashing and established strict sanitary protocols in his own practice.
Roza said the medical community rejected his findings, because they didn’t want to accept the reality that something as simple as their own inadequate hygiene practices was responsible for patient deaths. Doctors continued to operate with dirty hands, which lead to scores of preventable maternal deaths.
Semmelweis was ostracized from the medical community, lost his job, and eventually was committed to an asylum.
Roza likened the government’s actions in aiding and abetting Epstein to those physicians who ignored or maligned Semmelweis for advocating better sanitary practices.
“Releasing my name while redacting the names of the powerful is a choice. It’s a choice to prioritize the comfort of institution over the safety of the survivors. The evidence is right here. Yet those in power would rather us die socially, emotionally, and physically rather than admit their own complicity.
“I am no longer Jane Doe hiding in the files. I’m a woman, a fighter, and I’m a witness. And I’m begging you, please wash your hands.”
