Epstein sexually abused teen on Hilton Head in the 1980s, lawsuit says

Evan McKenna, The Island Packet (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) on Jan 12, 2026

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HILTON HEAD, S.C. — As the U.S. Justice Department continues to review documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a recently resurfaced lawsuit claims he abused a teenage girl inside a Hilton Head Island vacation home.

Originally filed in 2019 in the southern district of New York, the lawsuit claims the anonymous plaintiff was repeatedly sexually abused by Epstein beginning in 1984, when she was 13 years old. Its claims represent some of the earliest reported allegations against Epstein, who was convicted of prostitution of a minor in 2008 and died by suicide inside his jail cell in 2019 after facing additional charges of sex trafficking.

News of the lawsuit’s connection to Hilton Head was first reported by the Post & Courier. Local law enforcement officials told the outlet they did not have records or information on the decades-old case.

The lawsuit says Jane Doe 4 met Epstein in 1984 after he rented a Hilton Head vacation home from her mother, who was a real estate agent on the island. The 13-year-old girl offered babysitting services to Epstein “as was common in the area,” according to court documents.

But when the girl arrived at the vacation home, the suit says, there were no children to babysit. Instead, the lawsuit says Epstein offered her alcohol and drugs — and raped her later that night.

This pattern of abuse allegedly continued over the next several years, as Epstein met with the girl under the guise of “babysitting services.”

The lawsuit adds that Epstein allegedly took nude photographs of Jane Doe 4 without her knowledge or consent. When she learned of the photos and asked the financier to return them, he “became violent” and refused to do so, the lawsuit claims.

Jane Doe 4 alleged she was also assaulted and raped by “other prominent, wealthy men” she met across state lines, after Epstein brought her to New York City to attend “intimate gatherings.” Epstein was aware of the assaults and even brought her to the parties to offer her as “fresh meat” to his associates, the lawsuit alleges.

Jane Doe 4, who now lives in Washington state, received a settlement to close the case in 2021. Neither the settlement amount nor the identities of the four anonymous plaintiffs was known. The plaintiff was represented by Arick Fudali of the Bloom Firm, a prominent law firm led by attorney Lisa Bloom.

The three other Jane Does were described as aspiring models from New York, one of whom was underage.

The lawsuit alleged Epstein used the promises of money and career advancement to meet with and sexually abuse the three plaintiffs, both by asking for “massages” that turned into violent groping and by fraudulently posing as a photographer to conduct a nude photo shoot.

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