Victoria Roberts

Lawyers = £ £ £ £

I find it quite extraordinary even in those far off days, that a father would hand over his 16 year old daughter to a virtual stranger to be taught to be a Masseur! Remembering my own step fathers beady watchful eye when I was that age, I find this young lady's fathers attitude very odd! -money?!!! Just a thought!

I agree Jabberwok the whole thing smacks of ££££s.

When I was 15, in the school choir, we were asked to sing at an evening Chapel concert. I lived in a village 3 miles from town, no bus that evening. The headmaster offered to give me a lift home.

Missed the concert, my father said NO.

Anniebach - most fathers are very protective of their 16 year old daughters. It seems her father did nothing to protect her throughout her youth, and is then heard on TV criticising all these 'bad people' for what they did to her. What jaw dropping hypocrisy.

It also reminds me of the grooming and exploitation of many girls in this country in Rochdale and Oxford and other towns .

Pubescent girls, vulnerable because of abuse or because they come from dysfunctional families and easy prey for anyone who seems to appreciate them, make them feel good, offered everything, which they take and soon realise how they are expected to pay for their 'good luck'

This woman's story is very similar to many of thse told by girls in the towns I mentioned as others.

What is irritating me is that she is being described by the press as a sex slave, when she herself said that she was paid a daily rate by Epstein and 200 dollars extra for sex.
That is not a sex slave but a prostitute.
She stayed with him for two years until she 19 and was living the high life, I'm pretty certain that she could have walked away whenever she wanted.
She has probably hidden her grubby past for years, until the "Me too" saga.
It's all to do with $$$$$$

Failed in my decision to leave this discussion.
The description of girls (or boys) trafficked, groomed into being sexually exploited as ‘prostitutes’ is so far from reality. I realise I’m wasting my time here but to have the suffering and exploitation of vulnerable young people described in this way is something that should be challenged.
MOnica’s comparison with the children subject to child sexual exploitation is accurate. Some still describe those young people as the author of their own abuse.

Well said iam64

Iam many are victims of their parents before they become victims of others.

Absolutely. Few of these children come from well-ordered, loving supportive families.

Anniebach, I’m sadly very well aware of the factors that contribute to young people being vulnerable. Are you suggesting that means the children are less deserving? Or that many parents try hard to keep their children safe but don’t succeed.
Maggie Oliver, the policewoman portrayed in Three Girls, the drama based on the Rochdale grooming scandal is setting up a charity to work therapeutically with survivors and their families. I’ve heard Maggie Oliver speak, heard her interviewed several times. One of the things that shines from her is the lack of judgement of the victims and their families. She has the personal and professional skills needed in those who seek to help, not simply sit in judgement.

Well Iam you too are sitting in judgement if the others discussing this are sitting in judgement. You are judging fellow posters.

I’m not judging children. I’m disagreeing strongly with posters who imo are judging children

VR says she was abused from the age of 7 which possibly suggests a family member or neighbour.

Your are judging posters Iam, I accept you have the professional skills , others do have knowledge and experience of life . You are sitting in judgement of posters who do not have your ‘professional skills’.

Does every juror in a court of law have ‘professional skills ?

A sex slave wouldn't be paid but Victoria Roberts was paid very well.
I appreciate she says she had been abused in childhood and sadly so have thousands of young girls and women on our streets, but they are described as prostitutes.
I just can't agree with the press describing her as a slave, when she was living in luxury, jetting around the World, having sex with a rich old man and possibly his friends and being paid for it.

Buffy do you not understand the mental vulnerability of a young girl whose only experience of life is sexual abuse, being taken into a life of unimaginable (for her) luxury and money.

It is slavery. They are caught in a world they have no experience of and have nowhere else to go. They are in the same position an abused wife or partner, afraid to leave incase what is outside might be worse.

There is a difference between the young girls in Rotherham and the girls we have heard now speaking about Epstein.

The girls in Rotherham were given drugs and alcohol, they were used by many men, and left on the streets.

Virginia met her husband in Thailand when she was 19, she left her life with Epstein and he paid for her to train as a qualified masseur in Thailand.

I am certainly not excusing Epstein but there has been comparisons here with the victims in Rotherham and Epstein’s victims.

Monica, there were plenty of other girls who said that they were invited to Epstein's house the same way as Victoria Roberts and as soon as they realised what was entailed, they walked away.
She chose to stay, living in "unimaginable luxury" and being paid for every sexual encounter.
She chose to stay, no-one forced her to stay.
You say that she had nowhere to go, she could have gone back to her Father's house where she was living previously. Why didn't she?
I can't accept that she was a sex slave, Yazidi girls were sex slaves, how can you compare the two.
You are trying to say that she was some vulnerable innocent child, she was far from that and even though she had been sexually abused at 7 years old........
She had choices!
And the choice she made was to be a prostitute.
Now she's realised that there is money to be made, probably millions and that is what so this is about........Money.

What this is about is the sexual exploitation of young women and girls. If we simply dismiss their experiences by suggesting they made bad choices we're giving them responsibility, rather than putting it where it should be. Those responsible are the adults who recruited, groomed and trained these youngsters to be sex workers.
My question remains, how do we stop adults from exploiting children. We don't learn anything by putting responsibility with the abused, rather than the abuser.

Buffybee. Her name is Virginia not Victoria.

What this is about is the experiences of Virginia Roberts and the other girls abused by Epstein, not the girls from Rotherham.

Not all 16 year old girls are unworldly , not all 16 year old girls have their fathers approval to live with a very wealthy man.

Jane Doe 5 was invited to stay on the island but declined the invite.

It seems obvious this young woman came from a very disfunctional background - which would mean she would be very susceptible to grooming. Calling her a prostitute is unbelievable! She suddenly found herself surrounded by wealth and told she was special. I would think initially she was asked to "just" massage Epstein but later it was made clear sex was expected. Who could she turn to for help? It would appear not her family.

Epstein was certainly a villain but so is her father.