Case Explained:This article breaks down the legal background, charges, and implications of Case Explained: Behind Epstein Files, a $245 Billion Sex Trafficking Industry – Legal Perspective
When Courtney Litvak was 17, she was a junior in high school in Houston, Texas, focused on swim practice, PSATs and the promise of college.
Instead, she says, she was targeted on her own high school campus, groomed and sex trafficked for 3 years.
“My trafficking began with gang and street trafficking at my high school, peer-on-peer exploitation,” said Litvak at a Feb. 13 American Community Media news briefing. “I was approached by my very first trafficker during school hours. He would then connect me with former graduated students who were convicted felons for human trafficking. And this is how sex trafficking can happen hidden in plain sight.”
Silenced by School
Courtney Litvak, sex trafficking survivor and former member of the US Advisory Council to Combat Human Trafficking, says significant amounts of corporate and public money are involved in the sex trade and that consumers need to know how they can boycott those complicit and thus defund the trade.
Litvak, now director of survivor initiatives for No Trafficking Zone and a former member of the U.S. Advisory Council to Combat Human Trafficking, said she was first assaulted after a school dance by “a very abusive older gentleman who was in the military.” When she attempted to report what was happening — including a blackmail and child sexual abuse material ring at her school — administrators were more concerned about liability than accountability.
“I was treated like the criminal,” she said. “The school covered up these crimes. They cared more about protecting their varsity athletes, and protecting their school reputation, rather than protecting me,” said Litvak.
The young girl was taken from her home and moved across state lines for 3 years by various traffickers.
Houston is ranked the number 1 city in the US for trafficking.
Human trafficking is a $245 billion industry in the US, said Jacqueline Aluotto, co-founder and president of No Trafficking Zone in Houston. “That alone should tell how many people are profiting and participating off of this illicit business.” She noted that — on any given day in Texas — at least 79,000 victims fall prey to being trafficked.
High Profile Men
Litvak’s remarks came as more than 3.5 million documents tied to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released, igniting a media frenzy over high-profile names.
But survivors and advocates say the attention has largely sidelined victims and obscures the broader crisis of sex trafficking.
Jacquelyn Aluotto, co-founder and president of No Trafficking Zone, discusses the money that fuels the sex-trafficking trade.
Survivors Spoke Out But No Action Taken
Epstein’s survivors started speaking out as early as 1996, when Maria Farmer went to the FBI to testify that she and her younger sister, Annie had been sexually assaulted by Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell. No investigation was launched.
In 2016, Katie Johnson filed a $100 million lawsuit against Epstein and President Donald Trump, alleging that she was sexually abused by both men and forced to “engage in various perverted and depraved sex acts.” Johnson alleged in her lawsuit that Epstein threatened harm to her family if she did not comply.
Witnesses
A former employee of Epstein offered witness testimony in Johnson’s case, which was nonetheless dismissed by two courts for lack of evidence. Trump’s legal team described the lawsuit as politically motivated and a hoax.
Trump Himself called former Palm Beach police chief Michael Reiter in 2006 to tell him that Epstein’s activities with teenage girls were well known in both New York and Palm Beach. Yet no action was taken until 2008, when he was convicted on one count of soliciting a child for prostitution. Epstein was allowed to work from his office in Palm Beach as he served his 13-month sentence.
Arrested in 2019, Epstein was charged with 2 counts of sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of minors. The charges were dropped when he was found dead in his cell of apparent suicide.
Low Prosecution Rates
The numbers vary widely as most cases go unreported. But one 2024 study from the Department of Health and Human Services notes that up to 325,000 women and girls are trapped in sexual slavery each year.
The Federal Human Trafficking Report — produced by the State Department — notes that between the years 2000 and 2022 (more than 2 decades) only 10,775 victims of sex trafficking were identified, 2929 prosecutions were filed, resulting 4,477 convictions.
Advocates for survivors say these figures represent just 1% of the number of sex trafficking cases that should be prosecuted.
“There is no such thing as a perfect victim,” said Litvak. “So many victims do not self-identify, especially with a crime as intricate as human trafficking.”
Victims Identified
Dr. Michele Goodwin, professor of Constitutional Law and Global Health Policy, Georgetown University, discusses the U.S. laws that have long-favored abusers and rapists.
Michelle Goodwin, Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, said the Epstein files reveal a familiar pattern: power protecting power while victims’ identities are exposed.
“What’s been made open and available is only a fraction of the Epstein files,” said Goodwin, a professor of constitutional law and global health policy at Georgetown University. “Horrifically, what’s been revealed in these files are the names of individuals who have been raped and sexually assaulted.”
“Even their images have been revealed. This is absolutely shocking and inconsistent with what would be the rule of law,” she said.
At a Feb. 11 hearing, US Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to apologize to Epstein’s victims — who were sitting to her side — for not redacting nude images of them and other identifying information in the released files.
‘Insufficient Evidence’
Goodwin noted that statutes of limitations remain a major obstacle in obtaining justice for survivors. “If you’ve been sexually assaulted at the age of 6, 7, 8, or even 15 or 16: when do you seek justice for yourself?” she queried. “If you have statutes of limitations that place it such that you have only a few years after the age of majority to bring a case, that makes it of course very difficult, almost impossible.”
Prosecutors often expect victims to supply evidence they could not reasonably gather as children, she said.
“What six-year-old is filing a police report?” Goodwin asked. “Was there a rape kit that was done? There is no blueprint for a child in terms of what it is that they need to do to collect the kind of evidence that is going to be necessary for police and prosecutors later.”
Respecting Victims
“Part of the problem is that prosecutors are expecting them to do their cases for them. They are expecting that young people will have amassed the kinds of evidence that give them a stronger foothold in order to bring a case,” said Goodwin.
“There is a different socialization that we need in terms of respecting individuals when they do come forward and looking for the kind of evidence that typically might be overlooked but is important. Did someone tell a friend, a guardian, a relative of what happened to them?”
Goodwin also noted the reluctance to pursue high-profile suspects. Epstein, she said, received “a very light sentence, a slap on the wrist.”
No Trafficking Zone
On the ground in Houston, Aluotto said her organization has worked to create deterrence in what she called a “high profit, low risk crime.”
“In Texas, on any given day, over 79,000 youth are trafficked,” she said. “Through a study, 55% of survivor leaders said that they were first groomed, lured, recruited, and trafficked and exploited with an intersection to their schools.”
No Trafficking Zone helped pass state legislation — SB 1212 — creating “no trafficking school zones. The bill also makes human trafficking a first-degree felony, now punishable by 25 to 99 years, when tied to schools or the internet. The law has since expanded to include college campuses and foster care settings.
“We wanted a deterrent,” Aluotto said. “Traditionally with human trafficking, it has been a high profit, low risk crime. They’re making millions upon millions of dollars and they were getting deferred probation.”
Game Over
In the US, over 60% of domestic minor sex trafficking is connected to the foster care system. “Survival trafficking and exploitation is something that really needs to be talked about when we’re talking about the most vulnerable communities,” stated Aluotto. NTZ has also developed the Game Over Initiative, tracking ads for sex tourism and sex trafficking at sports stadiums.
Women and girls are retaliated against when they finally gather the courage to speak out. They are often criminalized for incidents occurring while they were trafficked, said Aluotto, adding that their powerful predators often never face charges.
Speaking about the Epstein survivors’ elusive quest for justice, Aluotto said: “Prosecutors and agents had tangible evidence. They had victims handing over cell phones and laptops, a digital imprint. And here’s so many ways that you can track trafficking, through cash, and financial statements.”
Epstein, for example, laundered his money through modeling agencies, shell companies and real corporations, alleged Aluotto. “The women were not taken seriously, and agencies haven’t worked together to understand these girls.”
Immigrant Survivors
A limited knowledge of English, fears of immigration action and deportation, and a lack of knowledge about their rights and the resources available to them are among the many barriers immigrant survivors of trafficking face when trying to escape, says Carmen McDonald, Executive Director, Survivor Justice Center.
In Los Angeles County, one of the highest child exploitation regions in the country, advocates say immigrant survivors face additional barriers.
Immigrant survivors, she said, fear deportation and may struggle with language access. “Having someone’s immigration status used against them is a concern,” said Carmen McDonald, executive director of the Survivor Justice Center. “Our clients are calling us and telling us they’re afraid to report crimes against them. They’re afraid to deal with law enforcement.”
Survivors of trafficking used to be eligible for two types of visas to remain in the US. The T visa is given to survivors of human trafficking while the U visa is given to domestic violence victims. But both visa programs have been paused under the Trump Administration. And Project 2025 seeks to permanently eliminate both visas.
ICE Enforcement
“Trafficking has always been present in our community,” said McDonald. “When a trafficker has power and social capital, they could use the legal system against the survivor.”
She described cases where traffickers file police reports against victims for coerced drug use, seek restraining orders or sue for defamation, creating “chilling effects on survivors fleeing or trying to find safety.”
Even undocumented immigrant victims have rights to fight back against exploitation, but most are unaware of them, said McDonald. Increased ICE enforcement in Los Angeles County also makes victims afraid to speak out.
For Litvak, the files tied to Epstein are just one chapter of a much larger story.
“There are so many Jeffrey Epsteins and Ghislaine Maxwells who have yet to be discovered and are also still operating with what seems like impunity,” she said. “While we’re asking victims to speak up, we have to be able to offer them protection.”