Wexner Letter

11:45 All FAX N0. P. 001 December 5, 2019 The Honorable David Yost Attorney General, State of Ohio an E. Broad St. 14th Floor Columbus, OH 43215 Fax: 614?644~5433 (without enclosures) Regular mail with enclosures The Honorable David DeVillers United States Attorney, Southern District of Ohio 303 Marconi Blvd, Suite 200 Columbus, OH 43215 Fax: 614?469?5653 (without enclosures) Regular mail with enclosures RE: Request for Investigation into allegations of Maria Farmer against Abigail and Leslie Werner for their complicity in helping Jeffrey Epstein assault young women and cover-up thOse crimes in Ohio. Dear Attorney General Yost and United States Attorney DeVillers, We are writing to ask that you open an investigation into the allegations of Maria Farmer, who states she was violently sexually assaulted by ef?'ey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell on property owned and secured by Abigail and Leslie Werner in new Albany, Ohio, in the summer of 1996. Please see attached the lawsuit ?led by Ms. Farmer in the Southern District of New York and a Washington Post article, dated October 5, 2019, that describe the circumstances of the attack and the Wexners? apparent complicity in the attack andfor cover-up of it. As you may know, we are all victims of the sexual assaults committed by Dr. Richard Strauss while varsity athletes at Ohio State University and victims of Ohio State?s multi-decade cover-up of that abuse. We know ?rsthand the additional damage inflicted when the powerful cover-up the crimes of monsters like Dr. Richard Strauss and Jeffrey Epstein, as Ohio State has done and Abigail Werner appears to be doing. The allegations raised by Ms. Farmer are terrifying and bear directly on our own ?ght for justice. According to published reports, Maria Farmer was a New York City artist who was employed by Jef?'ey Epstein. Epstein and Leslie Wexner were business partners and Epstein held power of attorney authority over Wexner?s ?nances. Epstein brought Farmer to the Warner's 336 acre estate in New Albany in the summer of 1996 to work on an art project in the Werner?s guesthouse, which was surrounded by the Werner estate. Ms. Farmer became an artist in residence that summer. Nefariously, the Wexner security team effectively held Ms. Farmer captive in the guesthouse and she could only leave the property with permission from Abigail Wexner (Washington Post interview). Although Ms. Farmer never met Abigail Weather in person, they did talk on the phone when Ms. Farmer wanted to leave. Epstein told Farmer, ?Les 11:45 All FAX N0. P. 002 [Werner] loves me. He?ll let me do anything.? Farmer did not know that meant hold her captive with the assistance of the Werner security team and sexually assault her. On the day Ms. Farmer was assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell, she called 911 and the Franklin County Sheriff?s Department. She did now know that Sheriff deputies were employed by Abigail and Leslie Werner to guard their estate. Importantly, no one came to help Ms. Farmer. When she tried to leave the property, the Werner security team detained her against her will for 12 hours. In the morning after the assault, a Werner security guard told Ms. Farmer: ?You aren?t leaving, you?re not going anywhere.? Later that morning, Partner was picked up by her father, who drove in ?om out-of-state to resoue his distressed daughter. During the summer of 1996 when Ms. Farmer was being held captive by the Werners, Leslie Werner was a member of the Board of Trustees at Ohio State UniVersity, which at the time was continuing to cover-up for the serial misdeeds of perhaps the most proli?c sexual assaulter in American history, Dr. Richard Strauss. That these events were taking place simultaneously is not a coincidence in our View. Currently, While we are trying to get justice from Ohio State, Abigail Werner serves as vice?chair of the Board of Trustees at OSU. It de?es comprehension that Mrs. Werner is still on the Board of Trustees given the credible allegations of her complicity in keeping Ms. Farmer captive for Jeffrey Epstein in 1996, while, at the same time, Ohio State grapples with how to atone for its complicity in allowing a monster to prey on its students for nearly two decades. Simply put, given the allegations, it appears Mrs. Werner is as guilty as Ohio State was in facilitating the crimes of a. serial sexual predator. To its credit, Ohio State hired an independent law ?rm to evaluate its conduct vis?d?vis Dr. Richard Strauss. We are asking nothing more than a similar independent review of the Werners? conduct vis-ci-vr's Maria Farmer and Jeffery Epstein. Ohio State, in a statement released on July 16, 2019, concerning a review of the ?nancial contributions to the University ?om Jeffrey Epstein, called Epstein?s crimes ?reprehensible.? See attached Statement. Yet, Ohio State continues to keep on its Board of Tmstees a woman who is credibly accused of facilitating at least one of those reprehensible crimes, according to published reports. The idea that Ohio State would continue to value the services of Abigail Werner, given the current allegations against her and given how Ohio State turned a blind to Dr. Strauss's reprehensible conduct, does irreparable harm to the victims of Dr. Strauss and further damages the reputation of the University we all love. Although we understand it is Ohio State?s decision to continue to embrace the Werner family despites its ties to, and complicity with, the ?reprehensible" Epstein, we believe that decision undermines the core values of the institution and contradicts stated desire to put its own reprehensible history with Dr. Strauss behind it. Only OSU can balance the values of the institution and the safety of its students against potential future ?nancial contributions ?'om Abigail and Leslie Werner. We also understh this evaluation by OSU is a moral issue, not a criminal justice one. However, complicity to violent sexual assault is. Ms. Farmer?s calls to law enforcement were ignored in 1996. We ask that you open (re-open?) that case now. Justice denied to one victim of Sexual abuse is justice denied to all victims. Given how the Werners, Epstein and Ohio State are inextricably tied to predatory sexual abusers, we ask that a thorough investigation?state and federal?be undertaken to determine Abigail and Leslie Werner?s role in the facilitating or covering-up the Farmer sexual assault at their estate with the assistance of their security team. Only by holding accountable 11:45 AM FAX N0. P. 003 these who promote sexual assault can we expiate the sins of the past and present, allowing all Victims of Dr. Strauss to move forward in a healthy and productive manner. Respeet?illy Requested, JAM William Ki?ght [a Erie Smith We Rodriguez 6? Dom/L4. WT Dunyasha ?ns li/{erk ?ea/me, Mark Coleman