Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein found out he was facing further legal peril last week, the day before he was found unconscious in his cell with neck injuries. Epstein, 66, was presented with court documents relating to accusations made by Jennifer Araoz, who claimed he raped her when she was 15. Miss Araoz, now 32, made her accusations on July 10 – shortly after Epstein was arrested by police on charges filed by New York prosecutors. She claimed that, in the autumn of 2002, when she had been visiting his New York home for a year, he raped her after she gave him a massage. Last week, on July 22, Qin Zhang, deputy sheriff, handed Epstein the documents in his cell in the Manhattan Correctional Center, where he is awaiting trial. Jeffrey Epstein awaiting his bail decision on July 15. The judge ultimately denied bail. Miss Araoz’s documents sought to depose Epstein, to learn the identity of the young woman who allegedly recruited her outside the Talent Unlimited High School and took part in his “grooming” of her “to be sexually assaulted by Epstein.” Miss Araoz has described the woman as a brunette in her 20s. Daniel Kaiser, Miss Araoz’s lawyer, said that Epstein or his lawyer will have to appear before a judge on August 27, to fight her wish to have him deposed and produce all evidence. Miss Araoz plans to sue both Epstein and the recruiter, Mr Kaiser said, but has to wait until August 14 under terms of the state Child Victims Act. The law, which Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York state, signed in February, lifted a statute of limitations that barred victims of childhood sexual abuse from suing their attackers more than three years after turning 18. The new law allows for criminal charges against sexual abusers of children to be filed until their victims turn 28 for felony cases. Jeffrey Epstein, 66, is facing up to 45 years in prison on charges of sex trafficking of minors It also allows for civil charges to be brought against their abusers - and institutions that enabled them - until they turn 55. Finally, it enacted a one-year, one-off period of grace, allowing all victims to seek civil action, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. That period begins on August 14. The day after the court papers were served, Epstein - who’s being held without bail on conspiracy and child sex trafficking charges - was found nearly unconscious on the floor of his cell, law enforcement sources have said. Based on the appearance of the marks on his neck, investigators suspect he was choked by someone else, The New York Post reported, and they questioned his cellmate, a former policeman awaiting a death penalty trial in four drug-related killings.
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