A WOMAN who claims she was raped by Jeffrey Epstein alleges she has a life-altering bone disease which stems from the brutal attack – and is now suing his estate for $500k.
Caroline Kaufman, 27, claims she was viciously assaulted by the late pedophile at his New York mansion after meeting him for a fake model casting at just 17.
She alleges she was approached by a woman named Susan Hamblin at a horse show in Lake Placid a year prior to the terrifying incident, who later called her and invited her to Epstein's.
Hamblin is named in court documents and is listed in Epstein's leaked 'black book' of contacts.
Caroline exclusively told The Sun she has osteomyelitis, a rare and serious bone disease which causes deep pain and muscle spasms, which she believes is as a result of Epstein hitting her in the face during her rape.
She revealed last year she was filing suit, but put legal proceedings on pause while she applied to the victims' fund.
The accuser claims she has now rejected their undisclosed offer, branding it "offensive," and her lawyer is going after Epstein's estate for around half a million dollars.
Caroline exclusively told The Sun: "It's been difficult the past few months. I was going to go with the fund but the offer was too low, it's not enough to cover surgery, I'm quite offended by the offer.
"The amount of money the fund had, I don't believe it was distributed fairly. We're going to go ahead and go to court.
"The jaw issue is caused by an injury in the past, and when I had an encounter with Epstein he pinned me down and went to grab my arm.
"He forced my arm and as he did that he nicked my jaw, it's the only thing I can think of [which has caused this].
"I didn't tell anyone at the time because I didn't want to explain what happened."
Caroline said she's had the issue with her jaw for years but it worsened in recent months and she received her diagnosis, with doctors booking surgery for this month.
"It's extremely painful, I've been to the emergency room for it, my face is swollen and I'm on medication," she said.
"I've lost days of work, I ride horses, I feel physically exhausted because of it, and I've had difficulty eating.
"I want to get the money for my surgery but also start a charity and give money to other victims out there.
"The girls who have come forward have made a difference to my life, without them I thought I'd die without ever telling anybody."
Caroline said before her encounter with Epstein she used to be "friendly and trusting" but is now more guarded, and felt she gave up on her dreams of being a model.
She became a stripper a year after the alleged rape and then moved into the porn industry.
She later says she had "suicidal thoughts," while her arms are covered in self-harm scars, a result of what she claims Epstein did to her.
"I went through a long period of depression and stopped riding horses. I didn't think I was good for much, and used for sex," she said.
"I went down the wrong path, I started stripping at 18 and I also got into porn, that whole lifestyle has drugs involved and it's been a hard road of recovery.
She added: "I'm really grateful for my life now and that I have a second chance at everything."
According to her lawsuit, Caroline was introduced to Prince Andrew and other guests during her time at Epstein's mansion.
The Duke of York was famously pictured walking through Central Park with the convicted pedophile around the same time Caroline says she was at the multi-million-dollar home.
Elaborating on what she described as a "royal party", she previously told The Sun Andrew gave her a "big hug" and "kind of brushed my breasts with his hand." She cannot be sure if he did this on purpose or not.
She is not accusing him of any wrongdoing.
Exclusive photographs show Caroline fresh-faced and happy just before she was allegedly raped by Epstein and her world was turned upside down.
Lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who represents Caroline and other victims, exclusively told The Sun: "Caroline has a very serious medical condition she has had to take care of, and she has a very uncertain future as a result.
"As far as her medical condition is concerned, I would leave medical causation issues up to the physician.
"But if there's clinical support that the type of abuse she suffered at Epstein's hands could be related to some of the conditions that she has, then obviously we'll pursue that theory in litigation.
"With her medical problems and complications from that, our goal is to take care of her as well and as long as we possibly can.
"Caroline filed a lawsuit last year but this was essentially put on pause while we applied for the victims' fund.
"She applied to the fund and the fund responded but we rejected their response because it was insufficient so we're going to proceed with litigation."
The Sun previously revealed last year that the Epstein Victims' Compensation Program began accepting claims after the Probate Court of the U.S Virgin Islands approved the fund in early June.
"Our goal would be to go after the entire fund, which is close to over half a million dollars," Kuvin stated. "And we're going to attack that entire amount.
"Ultimately it'll be up to the court to decide and up to a jury, hopefully, to decide exactly what Caroline would obtain.
"But we believe that none of the ill gotten gains and money that Mr. Epstein used in his life to profit from them should go to anyone except the victims of his abuse.
"We would be suing for every single asset in the Epstein estate.
"We would obviously be suing on behalf of Caroline but ultimately we may be able to set up subsequent funds or distribution of assets to other victims."
Kuvin believes there is still money and assets belonging to Epstein that have been "hidden" by his estate.
"We know that Epstein was the master of hiding assets offshore and we know he hid money in different places throughout the world when he was alive," he said.
"So why shouldn't it be any different now?
"He's got assets that he hid when he was alive that haven't been accounted for, and that's why we know there's likely money spread throughout the world in different locations that he set up before his death.
"So I really have no doubt that there's money that's out there that hasn't been accounted for. They just don't want to tell anyone because people will go after it."
Source: Read Full Article