The federal government estimates there are at least 1,000 victims of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse. But many of the sex offender's victims have never come forward.
Survivors continue their fight for the full release of documents by the U.S. Department of Justice and that includes survivor Jena-Lisa Jones, who was 14 when she met Epstein, and he began sexually abusing her in Florida.
Jones is coming to Michigan next month to serve as the keynote speaker for the 48th annual Take Back the Night Ann Arborevent,hosted by the University of Michigan's University Students Against Rape and the Standing Tough Against Rape Society (STARS). The event, which focuses on raising awareness about sexual violence and uplifting survivors, is on April 2.
Jones has become an advocate for survivors, pleading on Capitol Hill for the release of the full investigative file. In February, she was a State of the Union guest of U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-California, and she continues to push for accountability for all victims of Epstein's sexual abuse.
Detroit News Projects Team reporter Jennifer Chambers spoke with Jones via Zoom from her home in West Palm Beach, Florida, in March. The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Can you talk about your decision to come forward and speak publicly about what happened to you and the impact it has had?
Jones:So I started speaking out in 2016 with Julie K. Brown from the Miami Herald. When she wrote that article, there was a lot of anger there and frustration on how Epstein got his sweetheart deal and how he wasn't put behind bars. That anger only continued to grow as nothing came about, and when he died in jail, so to speak, that really set a fire under me.
We cannot allow the next generation to go through something similar like this. If we're not fighting and doing the right thing, if we're not protecting our children, who is? It is so important to educate people. And knowing that this was so much darker than what it was, was important for me that the world needed to know what was going on. And not only that, I needed to know the full scope. It's how did this happen? How was this allowed to happen?
And so for me, this fight has not just been for myself. It's been for other survivors and other survivors watching that have never had their voice heard, that your voice matters and you should believe, be believed and supported through all of this and not run through the mud.
Q: You’ve publicly pleaded with President Donald Trump to release the files. Why is it still not happening in your opinion?
Jones:Well, for me, it's really hard to understand why he's not doing so much more for this, or doing anything at all. He ran on this in his campaign, the release of the files, which was the first president in multiple presidencies to say something like that. He was working years ago with lawyers and giving information that could help.
And then he goes and turns around, once we pass this transparency law (Epstein Files Transparency Act), and then calls us "Democratic hoaxes." He's like, "Why are we talking about the files? Why are we doing this?" It's honestly, really heartbreaking. This is the president of the United States, and he was the one that started all of this. He was the one that put that bug in for all of us to be like, "Oh my God, we actually might find out and get the justice we deserve in this." And then he turned around and slapped us in the face.
For me, there's only two things. You're either complicit in the stuff or you're covering for other people.
Q: Only 3.5 million pages of the estimated 6 million pages of the Epstein files have been released. What have the documents revealed to you?
Jones:What we have seen so far has been just horrific. I mean, the details, the emails, the redactions, the unredactions, have been just horrific. And I feel like we're seeing this, but not making any moves on it. And it's very re-traumatizing. There's some really scary stuff in these files and for us to not be moving faster and trying to do something about this.
