Alan Dershowitz defamation lawsuit reveals another Jeffrey Epstein accuser
A new accuser has come forward in the high-profile case against multimillionaire investor Jeffrey Epstein. Maria Farmer said the disgraced financier who has ties to politicians, celebrities and royalty, sexually assaulted her more than 20 years ago. He has faced numerous allegations of sexual abuse, which he denies.
Farmer's claims against Epstein were revealed as part of a lawsuit by another woman, Virginia Giuffre, who is suing his attorney Alan Dershowitz for defamation, reports CBS News' Anna Werner. Giuffre says Dershowitz sexually assaulted her while he participated in Epstein's sex trafficking operation – something Dershowitz vehemently denies.
In documents filed in New York federal court on Tuesday, Farmer says she was an artist and graduate student when she met Epstein in 1995. The following summer, she says Epstein sexually assaulted her at a mansion in Ohio where he arranged for her to work on an art project.
Farmer is the latest of more than 30 women who have accused him of sexual abuse. In 2007, he struck a secret deal with federal prosecutors who let him plead guilty to two lesser sex charges in state court. He served just 13 months in a county jail.
Farmer also makes claims against Epstein's attorney, Alan Dershowitz saying she witnessed him visit Epstein's New York City mansion and go "upstairs at the same time there were young girls under the age of 18."
Sigrid McCawley represents Giuffre in her defamation lawsuit against Dershowitz.
"She's a great example of a very brave person," McCawley said. "She's standing beside another individual who was abused by a similar group of people to help her voice be heard and to help Virginia's voice to be heard."
Giuffre has claimed Epstein forced her to have sex with Dershowitz and others beginning when she was 16.
In an interview with the Miami Herald for their investigation into dozens of allegations against Epstein, Giuffre said, "You know, before you know it, I'm being lent out to politicians and to academics and to people that – royalty and people that you just, you would never think 'How did you get into that position of power in the first place?'"
Giuffre is now accusing Dershowitz of falsely claiming she made up the allegations against him.
In a statement to CBS News, Dershowitz said he's "never met" Giuffre. "She is committing perjury," he said. "I challenge my accuser to repeat her false accusation in public so I can sue her for defamation."
"Alan Dershowitz has goaded and baited this victim for a series of years saying horrific things about her in the press. And so he has claimed that she will not stand up for herself, and she is now doing that with this complaint," McCawley said.
Giuffre is seeking unspecified damages from Dershowitz. Epstein's attorneys have not returned our request for comment.