Sarah Kellen tells lawmakers that convicted sex offender ‘sexually and psychologically abused me … and gaslit me’
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One ofJeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistants has fiercely denied she was an accomplice of the convicted sex offender, claiming in a congressional interview she was “sexually and psychologically abused” by the late financier.
“I am here today to answer your questions, to dispel rumors and conspiracies, and to tell you the truth,” Sarah Kellen told lawmakers on theHouse of Representativesoversight and reform committee on Thursday morning, as part of its review of the federal investigation into Epstein.
A copy of her opening statement was provided to the Guardian.
Kellen, 46, testified behind closed doors after lawmakers on the committeerequested her appearance. Earlier this week, she participated in an interview withMS Now,in which she claimed she was also a survivor of Epstein’s abuse.
James Comer, the Republican who chairs the committee, told reporters after the interview with Kellen that she gave the lawmakers “three names of people that were involved” with Epstein’s abuse.
“These were new names for us,” he added.
“Sarah Kellen has been very helpful,” Comer said. “Of all the people we’ve interviewed thus far, this was by far the most substantive and productive interview we’ve had.”
Comer said the committee would be releasing the transcript “as quickly as possible”.
Kellen was employed by Epstein as a personal assistant for more than 10 years, beginning in 2001, and has faced public scrutiny for years since it emerged that she was listed as one of thefour womennamed as possible “co-conspirators” and granted immunity from prosecution in Epstein’s controversial 2007 plea deal with federal prosecutors in Florida.
Under that agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor, served just 13 months in county jail and avoided a federal sex-trafficking indictment.
On Thursday, Kellen told lawmakers in her prepared remarks that she “worked for, and was sexually and psychologically abused by,Jeffrey Epsteinfor over a decade”.
“He groomed me, sexually and psychologically abused me, controlled me, manipulated me, dominated me, and gaslit me until I could no longer tell which thoughts were mine and which were his,” she said. “It was like living with a permanent virtual reality headset on.
“I was reminded every day how powerful he was – how influential he was – and that to turn on him or disobey him would mean losing everything: my job, my home, everyone I knew in the world, even my life.”
