'What He Did Was Wrong': Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Seeks Investigation Into Santa Monica PD For Handling Of Report
MID-WILSHIRE (CBSLA) — A woman, who said she was abused 23 years ago by convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, announced Monday that she was demanding an investigation into the Santa Monica Police Department's handling of her case.
"I knew what he did was wrong, and I worried for myself and other women," Alicia Arden said.
Arden demanded the investigation because of how she said her case against the former financier was handled. She said she filed a police report alleging sexual abuse by Epstein during what she thought was a business meeting at Epstein's hotel room on May 20, 1997.
"I was upset about my encounter with the police," she said.
According to Arden, officers did not take her seriously when she filed her first report so she came back one week later hoping to get help from female officers — but was assigned to male officers who failed to investigate the case.
"There was never any follow-up," she said. "And I seemed, it really kind of seemed like my complaint was kind of ignored."
Gloria Allred, who is representing Arden, said she was sending letters to both Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey and the SMPD chief requesting a reexamination of how her client's report was handled.
Just last week, Epstein's former girlfriend and longtime associate Ghislane Maxwell was arrested on suspicion of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse underage girls in the 90s. She was being held Monday in New York awaiting arraignment.
And while Arden was not sure if Maxwell was involved in arranging her meeting with Epstein, she said she wasn't able to get help from the police when she needed them.
"The refusal to take my complaints seriously, I felt violated all over again," she said.
Epstein died by suicide in prison last year while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. A claim process has been set up for his alleged victims to seek compensation through his estate, though it was not immediately disclosed if Arden was part of that process.