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TESTIMONY OF MS. COURTNEY WILD, "SURVIVORS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE: EXPOSING EPSTEIN'S CRIMES IN PALM BEACH AND ACROSS THE WORLD"

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On 2026-05-26, Representative Emily Randall (D-WA-6) delivered a floor speech titled "TESTIMONY OF MS. COURTNEY WILD, "SURVIVORS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE: EXPOSING EPSTEIN'S CRIMES IN PALM BEACH AND ACROSS THE WOR" in the House.

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TESTIMONY OF MS. COURTNEY WILD, "SURVIVORS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE: EXPOSING EPSTEIN'S CRIMES IN PALM BEACH AND ACROSS THE WORLD"

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 89 (Tuesday, May 26, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 26, 2026)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E489-E490] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] TESTIMONY OF MS. COURTNEY WILD, ``SURVIVORS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE: EXPOSING EPSTEIN'S CRIMES IN PALM BEACH AND ACROSS THE WORLD'' ______ HON. EMILY RANDALL of washington in the house of representatives Tuesday, May 26, 2026 Ms. RANDALL. Mr. Speaker on May 12, 2026, Oversight Committee Democrats convened the first-ever hearing to solicit testimony from survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes. The hearing, ``Survivors Fight for Justice: Exposing Epstein's Crimes in Palm Beach and Across the World,'' marked a critical step forward in the fight for justice and accountability. On behalf of all the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes, I rise to include in the Record the testimony offered by Ms. Courtney Wild: Hello. My name is Courtney Wild. When I was 14 years old, I was abused by Jeffrey Epstein. He abused me until I was 17 years old. What happened to me was terrible. But what happened after that--by our own government--changed my life just as much. I came here today to ask for one simple thing: Make sure this never happens again. I filed a case under the Crime Victims' Rights Act because the government secretly made a deal with Jeffrey Epstein. They signed a non-prosecution agreement. They made that deal behind closed doors. And they never told me. They never told any of us. Instead, they sent letters telling us to ``be patient,'' even though they knew that the case was already over. For years, I believed there was an investigation happening. There wasn't. When I found out the truth, I went to my lawyer, Brad Edwards. He took my case in 2008, and he fought for me against the government--for over a decade--without ever being paid or knowing what would happen next. We wanted to do the right thing for all the victims. Together, we just wanted answers to a simple question: How could this happen? We had to fight all the way to the Eleventh Circuit, which took years, just to get the emails between the government and Jeffrey's lawyers to help us understand what happened, When we finally got them, they showed something I will never forget-- The government wasn't just negotiating with Epstein's lawyers, it looked like the government was trying to make him happy and make sure that he was okay with the punishment that they were going to give him. It seemed like they must have forgotten that there were 40 of us kids that he had abused. I was so confused because where I come from, if you commit a crime, you go to jail. I have never heard of the feds letting you help them decide which crimes they are going to charge you with or if you're cool with how long you're going to spend in jail, But I thought, what do I know? Maybe that's how it works for rich guys. Finally, after more than 10 years of fighting, in 2019, a federal judge finally ruled that my rights--and the rights of the other victims--were violated by the Non-Prosecution Agreement. But there was nothing that could be done about it. There was no remedy. I just want to say that again: The court found that the government violated the law . . . and nothing happened. That means the law--the Crime Victims' Rights Act, 18 USC 3771-- does not matter. And if a law has no consequences, it doesn't protect anyone. I was lucky. I had a lawyer willing to fight for me for over a decade. Most victims will never find that. So, I am asking you to fix that. Fix the Crime Victims' Rights Act so that it actually helps victims in the future. I have my own ideas, and I know my lawyers have more ideas, but I really hope that if nothing else comes of this, we can finally get this legislation right. There needs to be a clear definition of what it means to ``meaningfully confer'' with victims. I still don't know what that means but I know that it never happened for me. There must be real consequences and penalties in the statute that apply automatically when a court determines that a victim's rights have been violated. The answer after years and years of litigation cannot be that nothing happens when you finally win and prove that your rights were violated. If prosecutors choose to ignore victims' those victims' voices must be put on the record, memorialized, and preserved--especially when a deal is made behind closed doors. There needs to be an attorneys' fee provision, so victims can find lawyers who will stand up for them. If those changes had existed back then, maybe what happened to me--and so many others--would not have happened. My case against the government for violating the rights of at least 40 of us Palm Beach kids was happening from 2008 to 2019. Do you know how many other girls Jeffrey abused in that time period? I bet the FBI knows. If they don't know, I bet my lawyers can tell them. But the point is that Jeffrey Epstein continued to abuse other girls in New York, in New Mexico, around the world, and even still here in Florida after he was released in 2009 and everyone knew it, There were lawsuits. There were so many news articles. He was a registered sex offender. And still--nothing was done by the government. Not until 2019, when he was finally arrested. None of those girls should ever have been abused. Jeffrey Epstein should have been in jail. If he had been in jail like any other man who did the same thing as him would have been, then he would not have had a single victim after 2009. But he wasn't and he did. He abused so many girls after 2009. At the exact same time that I was asking the government why he got that deal and why they violated my rights. That is the real injustice here, That is the real thing that we need to prevent from ever happening again in this country. I was there for his bail hearing in 2019. I spoke to the judge right in front of him about how dangerous he was. His bail was denied. And for the first time, I thought we might finally get justice. But a month later, he was dead, Once again, the system failed us. Someone let him die in a secure prison ensuring that he would never be held accountable for what he did to me when I was a kid. Since then, there have been prosecutions. There have been civil cases. There have been settlements. But none of that changes what was lost. And none of that fixes what allowed this to happen in the first place. Now Congress is holding hearings. This should not be about politics. It should not be about Democrats or Republicans. It should not be about headlines. It should be about two things: Letting victims peacefully move on with their lives and making sure this never happens again. Right now, many of us cannot move on. Victims are struggling. Victims are being investigated in their home counties. Victims are checking into hospitals. This may make some people feel like something is finally being done. But you should ask yourselves: What is the point--and when does it end? Because there needs to be an end date to this investigation. If the point is to figure out who helped Jeffrey Epstein commit his crimes--then look at the professionals that were in his life. If the point is to prosecute other men who abused girls-- then tell the FBI to ask the girls who abused them. If the point is to understand how the government failed victims--my case already proves that. If the point is to fix legislation like the Crime Victims' Rights Act so that it actually helps people--then let's do that now. [[Page E490]] Instead, what we see is a continued investigation into a man who has been dead for six years. And the longer this goes on, the more victims continue to suffer. We can't take much more. We fought for years to have Jeffrey Epstein arrested. We fought to hold people accountable. We did not fight so that this would turn into something political--or so that victims would be used again. I lost years of my life fighting this. So did many others. We did that so the next victim wouldn't have to. Please don't let that work be in vain. Let's end this the right way, Thank you. ____________________

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TESTIMONY OF MS. COURTNEY WILD, "SURVIVORS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE: EXPOSING EPSTEIN'S CRIMES IN PALM BEACH AND ACROSS THE WORLD" Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 89 (Tuesday, May 26, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 26, 2026)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E489-E490] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] TESTIMONY OF MS. COURTNEY WILD, ``SURVIVORS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE: EXPOSING EPSTEIN'S CRIMES IN PALM BEACH AND ACROSS THE WORLD'' ______ HON. EMILY RANDALL of washington in the house of representatives Tuesday, May 26, 2026 Ms. RANDALL. Mr. Speaker on May 12, 2026, Oversight Committee Democrats convened the first-ever hearing to solicit testimony from survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes. The hearing, ``Survivors Fight for Justice: Exposing Epstein's Crimes in Palm Beach and Across the World,'' marked a critical step forward in the fight for justice and accountability. On behalf of all the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes, I rise to include in the Record the testimony offered by Ms. Courtney Wild: Hello. My name is Courtney Wild. When I was 14 years old, I was abused by Jeffrey Epstein. He abused me until I was 17 years old. What happened to me was terrible. But what happened after that--by our own government--changed my life just as much. I came here today to ask for one simple thing: Make sure this never happens again. I filed a case under the Crime Victims' Rights Act because the government secretly made a deal with Jeffrey Epstein. They signed a non-prosecution agreement. They made that deal behind closed doors. And they never told me. They never told any of us. Instead, they sent letters telling us to ``be patient,'' even though they knew that the case was already over. For years, I believed there was an investigation happening. There wasn't. When I found out the truth, I went to my lawyer, Brad Edwards. He took my case in 2008, and he fought for me against the government--for over a decade--without ever being paid or knowing what would happen next. We wanted to do the right thing for all the victims. Together, we just wanted answers to a simple question: How could this happen? We had to fight all the way to the Eleventh Circuit, which took years, just to get the emails between the government and Jeffrey's lawyers to help us understand what happened, When we finally got them, they showed something I will never forget-- The government wasn't just negotiating with Epstein's lawyers, it looked like the government was trying to make him happy and make sure that he was okay with the punishment that they were going to give him. It seemed like they must have forgotten that there were 40 of us kids that he had abused. I was so confused because where I come from, if you commit a crime, you go to jail. I have never heard of the feds letting you help them decide which crimes they are going to charge you with or if you're cool with how long you're going to spend in jail, But I thought, what do I know? Maybe that's how it works for rich guys. Finally, after more than 10 years of fighting, in 2019, a federal judge finally ruled that my rights--and the rights of the other victims--were violated by the Non-Prosecution Agreement. But there was nothing that could be done about it. There was no remedy. I just want to say that again: The court found that the government violated the law . . . and nothing happened. That means the law--the Crime Victims' Rights Act, 18 USC 3771-- does not matter. And if a law has no consequences, it doesn't protect anyone. I was lucky. I had a lawyer willing to fight for me for over a decade. Most victims will never find that. So, I am asking you to fix that. Fix the Crime Victims' Rights Act so that it actually helps victims in the future. I have my own ideas, and I know my lawyers have more ideas, but I really hope that if nothing else comes of this, we can finally get this legislation right. There needs to be a clear definition of what it means to ``meaningfully confer'' with victims. I still don't know what that means but I know that it never happened for me. There must be real consequences and penalties in the statute that apply automatically when a court determines that a victim's rights have been violated. The answer after years and years of litigation cannot be that nothing happens when you finally win and prove that your rights were violated. If prosecutors choose to ignore victims' those victims' voices must be put on the record, memorialized, and preserved--especially when a deal is made behind closed doors. There needs to be an attorneys' fee provision, so victims can find lawyers who will stand up for them. If those changes had existed back then, maybe what happened to me--and so many others--would not have happened. My case against the government for violating the rights of at least 40 of us Palm Beach kids was happening from 2008 to 2019. Do you know how many other girls Jeffrey abused in that time period? I bet the FBI knows. If they don't know, I bet my lawyers can tell them. But the point is that Jeffrey Epstein continued to abuse other girls in New York, in New Mexico, around the world, and even still here in Florida after he was released in 2009 and everyone knew it, There were lawsuits. There were so many news articles. He was a registered sex offender. And still--nothing was done by the government. Not until 2019, when he was finally arrested. None of those girls should ever have been abused. Jeffrey Epstein should have been in jail. If he had been in jail like any other man who did the same thing as him would have been, then he would not have had a single victim after 2009. But he wasn't and he did. He abused so many girls after 2009. At the exact same time that I was asking the government why he got that deal and why they violated my rights. That is the real injustice here, That is the real thing that we need to prevent from ever happening again in this country. I was there for his bail hearing in 2019. I spoke to the judge right in front of him about how dangerous he was. His bail was denied. And for the first time, I thought we might finally get justice. But a month later, he was dead, Once again, the system failed us. Someone let him die in a secure prison ensuring that he would never be held accountable for what he did to me when I was a kid. Since then, there have been prosecutions. There have been civil cases. There have been settlements. But none of that changes what was lost. And none of that fixes what allowed this to happen in the first place. Now Congress is holding hearings. This should not be about politics. It should not be about Democrats or Republicans. It should not be about headlines. It should be about two things: Letting victims peacefully move on with their lives and making sure this never happens again. Right now, many of us cannot move on. Victims are struggling. Victims are being investigated in their home counties. Victims are checking into hospitals. This may make some people feel like something is finally being done. But you should ask yourselves: What is the point--and when does it end? Because there needs to be an end date to this investigation. If the point is to figure out who helped Jeffrey Epstein commit his crimes--then look at the professionals that were in his life. If the point is to prosecute other men who abused girls-- then tell the FBI to ask the girls who abused them. If the point is to understand how the government failed victims--my case already proves that. If the point is to fix legislation like the Crime Victims' Rights Act so that it actually helps people--then let's do that now. [[Page E490]] Instead, what we see is a continued investigation into a man who has been dead for six years. And the longer this goes on, the more victims continue to suffer. We can't take much more. We fought for years to have Jeffrey Epstein arrested. We fought to hold people accountable. We did not fight so that this would turn into something political--or so that victims would be used again. I lost years of my life fighting this. So did many others. We did that so the next victim wouldn't have to. Please don't let that work be in vain. Let's end this the right way, Thank you. ____________________