Epstein Had His Own Lodge at Interlochen’s Prestigious Arts Camp for Kids
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epstein-had-his-own-lodge-at-interlochens-prestigious-arts-camp-for-kids-in-michigan
>Epstein was a big donor at Interlochen, where his cabin was located near the junior girls camp. The mother of a former student once accused him of trying to groom her 13-year-old.
>But during the 1990s, Epstein apparently had another getaway, at a Michigan cabin. There, the 66-year-old financier was a donor to the revered Interlochen Center for the Arts, a fine-arts boarding school and camp, and had bankrolled the “Jeffrey Epstein Scholarship Lodge” on its campus.
>And in August 1998, Epstein and his alleged madam, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, took a five-day jaunt to Traverse City, Michigan, which is a short drive from the school, along with two other passengers, according to flight records.
>The academy and summer camp, a gem in the quiet woods of northern Michigan, is known for churning out world-famous talent. Interlochen’s star-studded alumni include musicians like Jewel, Josh Groban, and Norah Jones, comedian Maria Bamford, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, and actors Terry Crews and Felicity Huffman.
>Epstein also counted himself as an alumnus. Katharine Laidlaw, Interlochen’s vice president of strategic communications and engagement, told The Daily Beast he attended Interlochen’s “National Music Camp” in 1967. His course of study was Bassoon/Orchestra/Radio, Laidlaw said.
>“Epstein attended Interlochen’s 'National Music Camp' in 1967. His course of study was Bassoon/Orchestra/Radio.”
>Araoz was vulnerable, having lost her father to AIDS when she was 12 years old. Epstein talked of donating to AIDS charities and assisting her career with his acting and modeling industry contacts. According to Araoz, Epstein suggested she was “very lucky to have met somebody like him” and “that he could really help me.”
>This isn’t the first time Epstein has been accused of preying on an arts student. The mother of soap-opera actress Nadia Bjorlin claimed Epstein targeted her daughter when she was a 13-year-old student at Interlochen in 1994.
>“He said he wanted to help her singing career. He said, ‘I’d like to be like a godfather.’ It felt creepy.”
>As The Daily Beast first revealed, Epstein’s secret charity Gratitude America, Ltd. also funded the Hewitt School, an elite private girls school in Manhattan; Harvard’s theater troupe, The Hasty Pudding Institute; the Film Society of Lincoln Center; and MET Orchestra Musicians. Records show Epstein’s now-defunct nonprofit, the COUQ Foundation, donated to a host of arts institutions during the mid-aughts, including the New School, the Tribeca Film Institute, and Ballet Florida.
>But well before Epstein issued press releases on his largesse, he was listed as a donor to Interlochen in school newsletters from 1990 to 1999. (Laidlaw said Epstein’s lifetime giving to the institution was less than $500,000.)
>In the spring of 1991, under the headline “New York City Alumni Enjoy Several Successful Events,” an article stated that Interlochen’s New York alumni network held a gala “at the offices of Jeffrey E. Epstein & Company.”
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>“Ghislaine was very protective, she was like the major-domo for him…”
>Ambrose said he arranged a place for Epstein to stay while attending the concert and that he remembers most of his contact was with Maxwell. He would later get Epstein to fund a new log cabin on campus, which was the Epstein Scholarship Lodge.
>“My recollection is they [Epstein and Maxwell] came once or twice after the cabin was built. But quite frankly Ghislaine was very protective, she was like the major-domo for him,” Ambrose told The Daily Beast, adding that when Epstein stayed at Interlochen, he made sure there was fresh orange juice and bottles of water stocked in the fridge.
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>But one 2011 civil court filing pointed to the Little Black Book, which was snatched from Epstein’s home by his former house manager Alfredo Rodriguez, as evidence that Epstein might have molested underage girls in places across the country.
>One victims’ attorney, Jack Scarola, recently told The Daily Beast: “Based upon the pattern of criminal activity at a very intense level, it’s highly unlikely that there is anywhere Jeffrey Epstein went that he did not leave victims in his wake.”
>In at least one case, Epstein allegedly lured a young woman into his sex-trafficking scheme by promising to pay for her schooling in the arts.
>Sarah Ransome, in a 2017 lawsuit, accused Epstein and Maxwell of vowing to fund her education while Epstein continued to sexually abuse her throughout 2006 and 2007. But they broke their promise to help get Ransome into New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology.
>According to court papers, one of Epstein’s recruiters said she’d introduce Ransome to “a wealthy philanthropist who regularly used his wealth, influence and connections to help financially poor females like [Ransome] achieve their personal and professional goals and aspirations.”
>Epstein settled the suit with Ransome in December 2018. (Ransome also claimed she was forced to have sex with Alan Dershowitz, who has adamantly denied her accusations.)
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>One dancer told The Daily Beast she was attending the Juilliard School in New York in 1983 when Epstein enlisted her to teach him dance…
>Looking back now, the dancer says she dodged a bullet. “I maybe wouldn’t be living the life I am now, had I been his prey,” she said.