Cordero v. Epstein, 869 N.Y.S.2d 725 (2008)

The plaintiff sued Jeffrey Epstein for sexually abusing her when she was a minor. The complaint stated that she and Epstein engaged in sexual acts on several occasions when she was under 17 years of age. Subsequently, the plaintiff filed an amended complaint, which included an alleged incident in which Epstein violently sexually assaulted her when she was a minor. Epstein filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired because the alleged assaults occurred prior to 2000 and the plaintiff commenced the action in 2007. Pursuant to the Administrative Code of the City of New York § 10-404, the statute of limitations for a civil action against a person who commits a “crime of violence” is six years after the alleged crime. However, the plaintiff claimed that she was insane after the alleged assaults and, therefore, was entitled to an extended tolling of the statute of limitations under New York Civil Practice Law and Rules § 208. The New York Supreme Court found that the plaintiff was not insane between the period after the alleged assaults and the filing of her first complaint. The Court based this holding on evidence of prior lawsuits and contracts that she had entered into prior to this case, as well as the credible testimony of the defendants’ psychiatrist. Thus, the statute of limitations had expired, and the Court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint. While this is a New York County Court case, the case is significant because it was one of the first lawsuits involving sexual abuse claims against Jeffrey Epstein. At the time of the plaintiff’s complaint, the media focused on her transgender identity and drug use rather than her reported experience with Epstein. 

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  • 2008

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Jurisdiction