Epstein Survivor Details Childhood Rape and Being Used as 'Doll' from Age 14
Marina Lacerda, a victim of the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, has bravely come forward to describe how the billionaire financier raped her from when she was just 14 years old, using her as a "doll" to instruct other girls in his abuse network.
Grooming and Initial Abuse
Brazilian-born Marina Lacerda arrived in the United States when she was eight years old. By high school, she was balancing three jobs to support her family during a difficult period marked by her stepfather's imprisonment for abusing young girls and strained relations with her mother. Another girl recruited by Epstein approached Marina, offering $300 for a 30-minute massage session, which Marina saw as a chance to pursue dreams of becoming a ballerina or Broadway performer.
"And then next thing you know, he's raping me. I would say sex, but I guess at 14, you're not having sex, you're getting raped," Marina told The Daily Mail. The grooming process happened "very slowly" after she was recruited as a masseuse. Ahead of the first massage, a girl told Marina they would have to remove their shirts, comparing it to wearing a bikini at the beach to normalise the situation.
Recruitment and Normalisation of Abuse
Marina recounted how Epstein forced his victims into recruiting other girls to expand his pool of targets. "This young girl had come up to me and said: 'Hey, I know what you're going through, come with me. I have this really powerful, amazing, really cool guy,'" she recalled. At Epstein's New York mansion, she was shocked when he asked her to remove her bra and if he could touch her, but felt pressured with no escape as Epstein masturbated.
Despite refusing initial demands, Marina said Epstein was "very nice" about her not being ready for sex at 14, showing patience to overcome her resistance. "He was like: 'It's gonna take some time to get her to be comfortable'. I think because his whole thing was he likes to be challenged," she explained. Over time, the abuse became normalised, and Epstein used her as a "doll" to teach other girls how to act. "He would use me as a doll, prompt me to say to the girls, 'this is how you're supposed to do things, this is how you're supposed to move your body'," she said.
Epstein's Demands and Aftermath
Marina was sent to recruit other young girls, with Epstein instructing her to only bring teens with student IDs. As she approached 18, Epstein grew frustrated that she could no longer find girls young enough. "Whenever I would bring him somebody, if they were either too dark-skinned, or they were too old, it was always a problem," she noted. Eventually, Marina began working at a coffee shop, earned her own income, and moved away from Epstein's control.
Referred to as "Minor-Victim 1" in the 2019 indictment against Epstein, the now 37-year-old played a vital role in securing charges against the sex offender, who died in a Manhattan prison cell months later. As more Epstein files are expected to be released, Marina urges officials to view survivors not as the adult women they are now, but as the children they were during the abuse. "I'd like to say, look at your kids, look at your sister, look at your mother. What if it was them?" she implored.
