Two accusers of financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged with sex trafficking this week, met at his arraignment Monday.
Courtney Wild and Michelle Licata told ABC News in a series of interviews that attending the Manhattan court hearing was worth the flashbacks to their past.
“We get to look him in the face today and see him in handcuffs,” Wild told ABC “We get to see him in jail. Finally, that day has come. So it was just nice to be able to share it with somebody, you know, look at you [Licata] and say ‘OK, today’s our day.’ “{mosads}
Licata, who was 16 when she says she encountered Epstein, told the news outlet that seeing him again created panic for her.
“I immediately was thinking, ‘OK, I’m back in that massage room where that clear shower is. It’s almost the same feeling like — God, I wanna get outta here,” she said.
Wild told ABC that she did not feel like former U.S. attorney and current Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, who oversaw Epstein’s 2008 plea agreement, “was on my side.” She said that she thinks the attorneys who are currently working on Epstein’s case are handling it well.
“I feel like the U.S. Attorneys that [are currently] handling [the Epstein case] today — they have the intention to do what’s right and to take a predator off the street,” she said.
Licata said that meeting Wild had been a relief.
“I didn’t have to explain myself or think ‘oh God, I have this secret,’ like you’re probably not going to like me,” she said. “It was really relieving that she was going through it with me.”
Epstein was arrested over the weekend and charged Monday. He has pleaded not guilty. His arrest has prompted renewed scrutiny into Acosta’s handling of the plea agreement that resulted in Epstein spending just 13 months in jail, though the labor secretary has defended it.