
周四,起诉俄亥俄州立大学未能保护他们免受校医性虐待的前该校学生,获得了杰弗里·爱泼斯坦案最早的吹哨人之一的支持。
The former Ohio State University students who sued the school alleging it failed to protect them from being sexually abused by a campus doctor got a shoutout of support Thursday from one of the first women to blow the whistle on Jeffrey Epstein.
安妮·法尔默表示,她和妹妹玛丽亚都是这位已故金融家数百名受害者之一。她表示支持这些学生的诉求,即要求将俄亥俄州亿万富翁、曾资助爱泼斯坦的莱斯利·韦克斯纳的名字从校园建筑中移除。
Annie Farmer, who says both she and her sister Maria were among the hundreds of women victimized by the now-dead financier, said she supports their push to have the name of Leslie Wexner, the Ohio billionaire who once bankrolled Epstein, removed from campus buildings.
法尔默还批评俄亥俄州立大学领导层,称其与数百名男性进行了长期的法律战(该诉讼已于今年6月达成和解)。这些男性此前表示,数十年前,理查德·施特劳斯医生在常以体检为幌子的掩护下对他们实施性侵,而校方却对此置之不理。
Farmer also criticized OSU leaders for waging a prolonged legal battle, settled in June, with the hundreds of men who said the university did nothing to stop Dr. Richard Strauss from sexually assaulting them decades ago, often under the guise of doing physicals.
施特劳斯案的幸存者曾多次指出,在校医对他们进行侵害的时期,韦克斯纳曾担任俄亥俄州立大学董事会成员。
The Strauss survivors have noted repeatedly that Wexner served on the OSU Board of Trustees during the time period that the campus doctor preyed on them.
“数百名学生和校友已经明确表示,他们不希望韦克斯纳的名字出现在他们的建筑上,其中包括许多勇敢的运动员、理查德·施特劳斯案的幸存者,”法尔默在回复美国全国广播公司新闻频道(NBC News)邮件提问时表示。“如果你是一名曾遭受性侵的俄亥俄州立大学学生,你目前会被指引前往韦克斯纳医疗中心接受检查。这存在严重的问题。”
“Hundreds of students and alumni have made it clear that they do not want Wexner’s name on their buildings including many of the brave athletes who are survivors of Richard Strauss,” Farmer said in an emailed response to questions from NBC News. “If you are an OSU student who has been a victim of a sexual assault you are currently directed to go to the Wexner Medical Center for an exam. That is highly problematic.”
法尔默目前身在哥伦布市,随行参与“唐纳德·J·特朗普与杰弗里·爱泼斯坦纪念阅览室”的活动。这是一个巡回公共艺术装置,展出了350万页与爱泼斯坦相关的、经部分涂黑的美国司法部文件。韦克斯纳的一位发言人拒绝发表评论。
Farmer was in Columbus with the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room, a traveling public art installation that includes 3.5 million pages of partially redacted Department of Justice documents related to Epstein. A spokesperson for Wexner declined to comment.
与此同时,俄亥俄州立大学发言人本杰明·约翰逊没有直接回应法尔默的言论,但表示该校有一套既定的程序来审议更名请求。
Meanwhile, OSU spokesperson Benjamin Johnson did not directly respond to Farmer’s remarks but said the university has an established process for considering renaming requests.
“我们已经收到了与莱斯·韦克斯纳相关的请求,这些请求目前仍在审议中,”约翰逊在一封电子邮件中说。
“We have received requests related to Les Wexner, and they remain under review,” Johnson said in an email.
这位亿万富翁的名字出现在莱斯·韦克斯纳足球中心、韦克斯纳艺术中心和俄亥俄州立大学韦克斯纳医学中心上。法默告诉调查人员,1996年她年仅16岁,当时爱泼斯坦和他的同谋吉赛尔·麦克斯韦以帮她改善学业为借口,邀请她前往爱泼斯坦在新墨西哥州的牧场。但法默称,当她到达那里后,他们对她实施了性侵犯。
The billionaire’s name is on the Les Wexner Football Complex, the Wexner Center for the Arts and the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Farmer told investigators that she was 16 years old in 1996 when Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell invited her to Epstein’s New Mexico ranch under the pretense of helping her with her education. But when she got there, Farmer said, they sexually assaulted her.
她的证词帮助麦克斯韦于2021年被判犯有性交易罪及其他罪名。麦克斯韦目前正服刑20年。爱泼斯坦于2019年被控对未成年人进行性交易,他在等待审判期间于纽约市一家监狱中死亡,其死因被认定为自杀。唐纳德·特朗普总统曾是爱泼斯坦的密友,但从未被当局指控与爱泼斯坦有任何不当行为。他也曾否认任何不当行为。
Her testimony helped convict Maxwell in 2021 of sex trafficking and other charges. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. Epstein, who was charged in 2019 with sex trafficking of minors, died in a New York City jail while awaiting trial and his death was ruled a suicide. President Donald Trump, who was once a close friend of Epstein’s, has never been accused by authorities of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein. He had also denied any wrongdoing.
法默表示,爱泼斯坦诱骗和侵害的数百名女性所遭遇的遭遇,与施特劳斯在1978年至1998年于俄亥俄州立大学任职期间针对的年轻男性所遭遇的情况存在相似之处。施特劳斯于2005年自杀。“这两起事件都表明,当掠夺者被一群助纣为虐的人所包围时,他们能造成多么巨大的伤害——这些人因为承认罪行会令人不适或不便而选择视而不见。”法默说。
Farmer said there are parallels between when happened to the hundreds of women Epstein groomed and preyed on and what happened to the young men Strauss targeted when he worked at OSU from 1978 through 1998. Strauss killed himself in 2005. “Both illustrate the tremendous harm that predators can cause when they are surrounded by a network of enablers who look the other way because it is uncomfortable or inconvenient to acknowledge their crimes,” Farmer said.
法默指出,施特劳斯的虐待行为之所以被揭露,完全是因为“像斯蒂芬·斯奈德-希尔和迈克尔·迪萨巴托这样的举报人所展现的勇气”。迪萨巴托是俄亥俄州立大学的一名前摔跤运动员,他带头要求该大学承担责任。斯奈德-希尔同样是俄亥俄州立大学的前学生以及施特劳斯的幸存者,他成为该校的直言不讳的批评者。“我的妹妹玛丽亚·法默长期以来一直感激这群勇敢男性所发出的声音。”法默说。
Farmer noted that Strauss’ abuse was exposed only because of the “bravery of whistleblowers like Stephen Snyder-Hill and Michael DiSabato.”DiSabato, a former OSU wrestler, led the charge to hold the university accountable. Snyder-Hill, also a former OSU student and Strauss survivor, emerged as an outspoken critic of his alma mater. “My sister, Maria Farmer, has long been grateful for the way this group of brave men has spoken out,” Farmer said.
早在2020年,一群前俄亥俄州立大学(OSU)的摔跤运动员正式请求俄亥俄州监察长兰德尔·迈耶调查相关指控:玛丽亚·法默于1996年在埃普斯坦位于俄亥俄州的一处“由韦克斯纳拥有并保障”的地产上遭到其袭击。韦克斯纳声称,在2007年首次出现有关他贩卖和性虐待年轻女性的指控后,便与埃普斯坦断绝了关系。他否认认识玛丽亚·法默,也否认知晓她所谓遭袭击一事。
Back in 2020, a group of former OSU wrestlers formally asked Ohio Inspector General Randall Meyer to investigate allegations that Maria Farmer was assaulted in 1996 by Epstein at an Ohio property “owned and secured” by Wexner. Wexner, who said he cut ties with Epstein in 2007 after the first allegations surfaced that he was trafficking in and sexually abusing young women, has denied knowing Maria Farmer and having any knowledge of her alleged assault.

韦克斯纳还否认与埃普斯坦相关的任何不当行为。迈耶办公室尚未立即回应有关这些指控是否曾被调查的查询。对新闻数据库的检索也未发现任何表明其办公室曾调查这些指控的新闻报道。迪萨巴托还领导了将韦克斯纳的名字从OSU校园内由维多利亚的秘密创始人资助建造的建筑中移除的行动。当时,279名斯特劳斯案幸存者正与大学进行法律斗争。
Wexner has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. Meyer’s office did not immediately respond to a request to find out if those allegations were ever investigated. A search of news databases uncovered no news articles indicating that his office looked into the allegations. DiSabato also led the drive to remove Wexner’s name from the OSU campus buildings the Victoria’s Secret founder helped fund. He did so while a group of 279 Strauss survivors was locked in a legal battle with the university.
这位前摔跤运动员是此前已就针对OSU的诉讼达成和解的317名原告之一。今年6月,OSU同意向这279名前学生支付1亿美元的损害赔偿金。目前,一名特别仲裁员正在确定如何向这些索赔人分配这笔九位数的和解金。
The former wrestler was one of 317 plaintiffs who had settled their lawsuits against OSU earlier. In June, OSU agreed to pay $100 million in damages to the 279 former students. Currently, a special master is in the process of determining how to divide the nine-figure settlement with these claimants.