In this photo provided by Teala Davies’s lawyer Gloria Allred at a 2019 press conference, she is pictured with Jeffrey Epstein in 2002. ‘She is smiling because she did not yet realize he had a predatory plan for her,’ Allred said at the press conference. (Teala Davies — Contributed)

Editor’s note: This story mentions sexual assault.

SANTA CRUZ >> The latest release of documents related to deceased child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein revealed that one of his victims had ties to Santa Cruz County. 

The records from the U.S. Department of Justice have offered a window into the sex trafficker’s extraordinary reach and influence. 

Among those mentioned in the files are billionaire Elon Musk, former President Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump, whose name appears thousands of times in the documents, and many others. A mention in the Epstein files does not, on its own, amount to evidence of wrongdoing, but it raises questions about the potential involvement of high-profile figures who have denied wrongdoing.

Santa Cruz Local reviewed the documents and found ties closer to home.

In addition to the revelation that one victim grew up in Santa Cruz County in the 1990s, financial records show Epstein gave money to former UC Santa Cruz professor Robert Trivers in 2014 to fund his research. Trivers was a UCSC faculty member from 1978 to 1994.

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A redacted 2011 deposition of Virginia Giuffre indicated she traveled with Epstein on his private jet to many destinations in the U.S., including Santa Cruz. Giuffre was one of the more prominent of Epstein’s victims. She met Epstein in 2000 and was abused by him until breaking off contact in 2002. Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025.

Giuffre’s name is redacted from the document included in the latest release of files that includes a reference to Santa Cruz, but several unredacted pages of the same interview were released in November.

The disclosures began in November after Congress adopted the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The Jan. 30 release included more than three million pages of documents. 

Among them are handwritten notes of a 2019 interview conducted by lawyers representing one of the victims. While the name is redacted in the document, the stories told in the interview and one of the photos included in the document match that of Teala Davies, who was abused by Epstein for more than two years after meeting him in Los Angeles in 2002.

The interview began with Davies briefly describing her childhood.

Spent most time growing up Santa Cruz Mountains, CA

Moved around a lot

The notes continue:

Just turn 16 when moved to LA on my own

Life at home not the best

Davies sued Epstein’s estate in 2019, several weeks after he was found dead in his New York City jail cell while awaiting prosecution on child sex trafficking charges. Davies was paid an undisclosed amount through the Epstein Victims’ Compensation Program and the lawsuit was dismissed in 2020.

Renowned attorney Gloria Allred, who represents Davies and more than 20 other victims of Epstein, declined to comment for this story. 

Davies is one of a number of women who have over the years come forward publicly to share their stories of sexual abuse at the hands of Epstein. 

“I was on my own and I needed help. Jeffrey Epstein preyed upon me,” Davies said at a 2019 press conference announcing the lawsuit. “He put me in a vulnerable and dependent situation and took advantage of me. I was only 17 years old. I was a little girl.”

The lawsuit alleged Epstein abused and trafficked Davies for more than two years.

In the 30-page, partially redacted document released by the Department of Justice last month, Davies described how Epstein would fly her and her sister out to his properties in Florida, New Mexico, Paris and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He funded a trip to Spain to study abroad and learn Spanish, according to the interview notes and the lawsuit.

In the interview notes she described him as fun and lighthearted and said they would go on trips and adventures together. 

I trusted him a lot

It was all mind control

The lawsuit alleged Epstein was “trafficking her around the country and the world and sexually abusing her on a frequent basis.”

She described abuse that began when she met him in 2002. The notes said he assaulted her four times before she turned 18, including two rapes. 

Remember feeling not knowing how to get out of it

I froze didn’t know how to react

According to the 2019 lawsuit and the notes, for two years Davies traveled and lived with Epstein. Then one day, she disclosed to him she had developed an eating disorder, the notes indicate, and he told her to pack her bags.

I don’t remember if I saw him after that

At the 2019 press conference, Davies said she was coming forward publicly to “set an example and inspire all victims of sexual abuse to conquer their fear and tell someone.”

She said, “you will be heard, and people will listen.” 

Sexual assault resources

Monarch Services operates a Rape Crisis Center in Santa Cruz County and offers a 24-hour, bilingual hotline for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking. Call 1-888-900-4232 for resources, information and crisis support. The national sexual assault hotline can be reached at 1-800-656-4673.

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Nik Altenberg is a bilingual reporter and assistant editor at Santa Cruz Local. Nik Altenberg es reportera bilingüe y editora asistente para Santa Cruz Local.