Why a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein is demanding that the NYC Council reopen civil lawsuit window for sex abuse claims: ‘You have a choice’

Karine Silva, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s countless victims, implored the New York City Council last week to pass legislation empowering victims of sexual assault and gender-based violence in the Big Apple.

Silva spoke publicly for the first time at a committee hearing calling for passage of Intro. 1297, a bill that would reopen the “lookback window” allowing survivors to file civil lawsuits under the city’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act (GMVA).

“If you do not pass 1297, you will protect Jeffrey Epstein,” she bluntly testified before city lawmakers, stating that as a child, Epstein — the accused child sex trafficker and disgraced financier — had sexually abused her.

Silva told lawmakers she had struggled for years to come forward, and now the statute of limitations is blocking her chance to seek accountability.

“When I was a child, I was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein. I could not come forward before. I wasn’t ready. Awareness and courage take time,” she said. “Now I am.”

Silva testified that she struggles daily with how she was abused, but that she cannot afford mental health treatments, asking the council to bring the legislation, which has 41 co-sponsors, to a vote.

“You have a choice: Helping me, a child sex abuse victim, or protect Epstein,” she said. “Please help me instead of protecting Jeffrey Epstein. The world will see who you side with, and will tell predators in New York City whether it is okay to sexually abuse vulnerable children like I was or not.”

The legislation comes in the wake of a court ruling earlier this year that restricted GMVA claims to incidents occurring after 2022, dismissing hundreds of pending lawsuits filed by survivors of abuse in city-run institutions, including 450 cases against juvenile detention facilities. Silva was among dozens of survivors and advocates who spoke before the Council’s Committee on Women and Gender Equity on October 16, urging support for a measure that would effectively overturn the recent court decision.

Queens Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers, who introduced the legislation, said the ruling created “a dangerous loophole” that threatens to deny justice to survivors whose claims have merit. She said the bill would create a new one-year window from March 2026 through March 2027 for survivors to file suit.

“The promise of justice for survivors of gender-motivated violence is in jeopardy,” Brooks-Powers said. “Without this bill, their pursuit of justice could end not because their claims lack merit, but because of a technical gap in the law.”

Supporters say the bill would clarify the law to ensure that institutions, not just individual abusers, can be held accountable for enabling abuse.

On Oct. 16, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams called the bill “particularly vital” and said it would clarify that survivors may bring cases against institutions that enabled abuse by their staff members. He said many such institutions were run by city agencies and that the measure was needed to hold them accountable.

City cites fiscal concerns

Saloni Sethi, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, said the administration supports the goal of holding perpetrators accountable but raised concerns about potential fiscal impact.

“The city supports the goal of holding perpetrators of gender-based violence to account and supporting victims,” Sethi said. “However, there are additional considerations, including the potential for substantial cost considerations, that the administration would like to discuss with the Council in a separate context.”

Brooks-Powers pressed the commissioner on how many survivors might be affected by the city’s current litigation stance. Sethi said her office did not have the numbers available. Brooks-Powers responded that it was disheartening to hear cost cited as a reason for hesitation when survivors’ lives had been irreversibly changed by sexual violence.

“The city owes it to survivors to support this legislation so they can continue on their healing journey and have full accountability,” she said.

Karine Silva’s lawyer, Jordan Merson, whose law firm has a history of representing victims of Epstein, thanked Silva for coming forward during his testimony, saying, “It makes a difference,” before sharply criticizing Commissioner Sethi’s “moment of pure cowardice,” in which she failed to specify the costs she was concerned about.

“That is like the most hollow argument I’ve heard,” Merson told the committee. “These cases were supposed to exist, and even if they weren’t, you have someone here who can’t afford mental health treatment. Would we rather Jeffrey Epstein pay for that, or would we rather the city of New York through Medicaid pay for that?

“The cost of this should be borne by the institutions that did it, and if that happens to be New York City, then New York City should pay for it, because it was intended to pay for it under the original law,” he added.

Merson accused the city of “aggressively” trying to have sexual abuse cases dismissed since the appellate court ruling, which found the Council’s legislation too unclear, saying officials are attempting to “wipe these cases and victims off the map.”

He urged the council to bring the legislation to the floor at the next stated meeting on Oct. 29, warning that more cases will be dismissed. “Every time a case is dismissed, a sexual abuse survivor is told they can’t get justice,” he said.

Merson’s law firm did not respond to repeated requests for details of Silva’s alleged abuse claims against Epstein.

In a statement issued Friday, a City Council spokesperson would not confirm whether it the bill will go to a vote at the next meeting, saying it appreciates all those who testified last week, “and the Council will be reviewing this testimony as the bill continues through the legislative process, which allows for thorough input from all stakeholders.”

‘I’m not looking for revenge or money’

Khalid Melvin was among those who shared his story of abuse in a juvenile facility, pushing for Intro. 1297 to reopen civil claims for survivors.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

Several survivors shared testimony about long-delayed trauma and the need for renewed access to justice. Some described abuse in juvenile detention facilities and medical institutions. Others said they had lost hope after the recent court ruling invalidated their claims.

“What happened to me didn’t just stay in my past. It has affected every part of my life, my relationships, my ability to trust, my sense of safety in this world,” said Fauzia Mohammed, who testified that she was sexually abused in two juvenile detention facilities as a child. “Intro. 1297 matters. This bill restores what the City Council intended — to give survivors the right to pursue justice from the institutions that allowed the abuse to happen.”

“For me, this is about making sure no other child goes through what I did, and that survivors can finally have the opportunity to get the justice they deserve,” she added.
Khalid Melvin, who entered a juvenile facility at 14, said staff “took advantage of us,” while Jason Moore, now 63, described abuse both in detention and by clergy, saying it became a place where he lost his childhood.

“The people who hurt me had complete control over me and had no way to escape the trauma that has stayed with me my entire life,” said Moore. “There were times that I didn’t want to live anymore. I tried to take my own life more than once, and I couldn’t see it way out of the pain. No child should ever have felt this hopelessness.”

He said the earlier revival window “gave me something I hadn’t had before — hope… but now that the hope is slipping away again.”

“I’m not looking for revenge or money. I just want acknowledgement that what happened to me was wrong and that it will never happen again to another child. Please pass tIntro, 1297. It’s not just about changing a law. It’s about restoring hope and dignity for all of us,” he added.

Committee Chair Farah Louis told survivors who testified it was going to be a “fight” but asked them “to stick with it and stand with us, just as we stand with you.”Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

Chaplain Dr. Donna Hilton, who said she was raped and assaulted while incarcerated on Rikers Island as a teenager, delivered one of the day’s most impassioned pleas: “We continue to be at tables like this, over and over, asking and pleading that justice be served… It’s about time people are held accountable.”

Attorney Anthony T. DiPietro, who specializes in patient safety and medical malpractice, told council members he has represented more than 800 women abused by convicted former Columbia University OB-GYN Robert Hadden and more than 450 men and boys abused by convicted Weill Cornell urologist Darius Paduch, saying the bill may be their last chance to hold powerful institutions accountable for decades of alleged misconduct..

He said the cases reveal that “institutions always know the abuse is happening but do nothing to protect their patients,” adding that reopening the civil window doesn’t just compensate victims, “it sends an important message to these corporations and reminds them that the community is watching and that they will be held accountable when they violate their oath and betray the community’s trust.”

Chair of the committee Farah Louis, herself a survivor of abuse, closed the hearing with a message of solidarity: “The trauma never goes away. Healing is a journey,” she said. “I hope you all continue in the fight with us to ensure that this bill gets passed.”

If enacted, Introduction 1297 would reopen the GMVA’s look-back window from March 1, 2026, through March 1, 2027, allowing survivors of gender-motivated violence, regardless of when their abuse occurred, to pursue civil justice against individuals and institutions that enabled it.