A survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse has described feeling like a ‘mouse trapped in its cage’ while at his New Mexico property, and she has shared further troubling allegations about the convicted sex offender.
More details are emerging about Epstein’s Zorro Ranch — a sprawling 10,000-acre estate where he is accused of bringing young women, and at times young men, into an isolated and tightly controlled environment.
According to accounts, victims were transported from different parts of the US to the gated ranch, where they were encouraged to do activities such as horse riding and were photographed around the 26,700-square-foot mansion.
It was also a location where serious sexual crimes are alleged to have occurred.
New Mexico authorities are now carrying out a major investigation into what happened at Zorro Ranch, described as a ‘first-of-its-kind’ inquiry launched after the wealthy financier died by suicide in a jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Chauntae Davies said she was 22 and training as a masseuse when her teacher introduced her to Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Davies said Maxwell hired her, and that she was then abused and repeatedly assaulted by Epstein over the next four years, until she managed to leave in 2005.
Speaking in a fresh interview with 60 Minutes Australia, Davies described what she says she experienced at Zorro Ranch.
Davies alleged there were occasions involving ‘girls waking up inside a dark room with a female doctor hanging over them, believing that some sort of procedure might have happened that they weren’t aware of’.
She also claimed there were references within the Epstein files to a baby being born and then vanishing, and suggested Ghislaine Maxwell was the one who took the child.
She continued: “I personally never witnessed anything like that, but I do remember overhearing conversations about trying to create the perfect baby, the perfect gene pool. I know that there was sort of a hunt, if you will, for the perfect gene pool.”
The New York Times has previously reported that Epstein wanted to ‘seed the human race’ with his own DNA, including by impregnating women on the New Mexico estate.
Four sources told the newspaper that Epstein discussed this ambition with scientists, though the outlet noted there is no evidence it ever moved beyond an idea.
Davies, who was once photographed giving former President Bill Clinton a shoulder massage, told 60 Minutes that her time at Zorro Ranch left her feeling like a ‘mouse trapped in its cage’.
She said: “There was a lot of time being in my room like a mouse trapped in its cage, waiting until someone would come to my door and say, ‘Jeffrey is ready for his massage now.'”
When the reporter asked her to explain what ‘massage’ involved, Davies answered: “Rape, full on, forced on, sexual rape.”
Davies also described the atmosphere of the property, saying: “Zorro Ranch was probably the most eerie [place], just giant and quiet and literally in the middle of nowhere. Miles and miles of just mountains and dirt.”
Asked whether she believes the full story of what happened there will ever become public, she expressed doubt.
Chauntae continued: “Whoever it is that is covering up whatever it is they are covering up has gone to great lengths to make sure it stays covered up.
“I don’t think there will ever be a full disclosure of it all.”
New Mexico did not begin investigating Epstein until 2019, after the statute of limitations had already run out for some of the alleged offences.
Officials are now working to establish how many women and girls from the state may have been abused at the ranch, following new claims from local residents.
Until recently, only one alleged victim was known to have been a New Mexico resident. That earlier inquiry was reportedly halted after federal authorities in New York urged the state to stand down while they pursued their own case.