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Sarah Kellen

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Snapshot

Sarah Lyn Kellen, also known by the married surnames Sarah Vickers and Sarah Kensington, worked for Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for approximately twelve years. She became one of the most disputed figures in the Epstein record because the evidence presents two realities that must be examined together.

Kellen says Epstein and Maxwell groomed, controlled, sexually assaulted, and exploited her. Federal prosecutors later acknowledged evidence that she was a trafficking victim, including a psychological assessment and allegations that Epstein raped her. At the same time, survivor testimony, investigative records, a federal prosecutor draft, and a 2022 judicial finding describe Kellen as an operational participant who scheduled massages, managed access to Epstein, and helped sustain conduct that harmed other girls and young women.

Kellen was named in Epstein’s 2007 federal nonprosecution agreement as a potential coconspirator. She has never been criminally charged or convicted in connection with Epstein’s crimes. In 2022, however, the judge who sentenced Maxwell found under the lower sentencing standard of proof that Kellen was a knowing and criminally responsible participant in the conspiracy. That was a finding in Maxwell’s case, not a conviction of Kellen.

The most accurate classification is therefore neither simple exoneration nor a declaration of guilt beyond what the courts established. The record supports Kellen’s status as a survivor of abuse and contains substantial evidence that she also facilitated Epstein’s system. Her own victimization does not erase alleged harm to others. The allegations about her conduct do not erase the abuse she says she endured.

Key Facts

  • Full name: Sarah Lyn Kellen
  • Other names: Sarah Vickers and Sarah Kensington
  • Born: May 1979
  • Epstein employment: Approximately 2001 through 2013
  • Reported duties: Personal assistance, travel coordination, household operations, directories, photographs, scheduling, and other property management work
  • Named in 2007 agreement: Yes, as a potential coconspirator
  • Criminal charge or conviction: None identified in the reviewed public record
  • 2016 civil deposition: Invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to most substantive questions
  • 2019 and 2020 federal interviews: Participated in interviews and a proffer process
  • 2022 court finding: Judge Alison Nathan found at Maxwell’s sentencing that Kellen was a knowing and criminally responsible participant in the conspiracy
  • 2026 congressional interview: Voluntary transcribed interview before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on May 21, 2026
  • Core evidence issue: Kellen is documented as both an alleged victim of Epstein and an alleged facilitator within his operation

Why Her Role Is Difficult to Classify

Trafficking systems can coerce victims into performing work that advances the exploitation of other victims. That possibility does not settle what Kellen knew, intended, or chose at each point. It does explain why a single label is inadequate.

In an October 2020 prosecutor draft, the government said it did not dispute a psychologist’s conclusion that Kellen met the definition of a sex trafficking victim. The same document alleged that she scheduled hundreds of appointments, including appointments with minors, and performed other tasks that supported Epstein’s abuse. The draft offered alternate ways to describe how her own victimization affected her responsibility. It did not treat victimization and participation as mutually exclusive.

This distinction is essential. Coercion, trauma, financial dependence, isolation, and sexual violence can sharply constrain a person’s choices. They do not automatically make every later act involuntary. Conversely, evidence that a victim performed harmful acts does not make the original abuse unreal or deserved.

The public record does not provide a verdict resolving Kellen’s individual criminal liability. It does provide enough evidence to reject both an uncritical innocence narrative and a one dimensional villain narrative.

Background and Recruitment Into Epstein’s Orbit

In her May 21, 2026 congressional interview, Kellen described a childhood in a Jehovah’s Witness family and an early marriage after abuse by an older man. She said she left school, married at seventeen, moved to Hawaii, divorced, and was then cut off from her family and religious community. This is Kellen’s account of her vulnerability before meeting Epstein.

Kellen testified that she met hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai in Hawaii. She alleged that Fekkai sexually assaulted her and later introduced her to Epstein as someone connected to Victoria’s Secret modeling. According to Kellen, Epstein called her to a casting event at the Shutters hotel in Los Angeles and asked her to undress. She said a hotel coworker later connected her with an assistant position in Epstein’s household.

Kellen testified that an early trip brought her to Little Saint James, Palm Beach, and New York. She alleged that Epstein first assaulted her on Little Saint James. About a month later, she said, Maxwell asked her to return and begin work.

These are allegations from Kellen’s sworn or formally transcribed account. The congressional committee referred some of her newly disclosed allegations to the Justice Department but emphasized that Congress does not determine criminal guilt. No charge or adjudicated finding concerning Fekkai was identified in the reviewed record.

Employment and Operational Duties

Kellen worked within Epstein’s homes and travel system from approximately 2001 until 2013. In 2026 she described broad duties that included errands, furnishing properties, arranging commercial and private travel, loading aircraft, coordinating with pilots and passengers, maintaining contact directories, and digitizing photographs.

She said she worked across Epstein properties in New York, Palm Beach, New Mexico, Paris, and the United States Virgin Islands. She described Little Saint James as Epstein’s principal residence during much of her employment and said she spent substantial time there.

Kellen rejected descriptions of herself as Maxwell’s lieutenant. She said Maxwell called her a slave and a minion and that she had no meaningful authority. She characterized herself as constantly on call and under the control of Epstein and Maxwell.

The operational record is broader than ordinary household assistance. Trial testimony and federal records connect Kellen to the scheduling and preparation of massages, communication with girls and young women, travel arrangements, cash payments, photographs, and access to Epstein. Those records require separate treatment because Kellen did not answer many questions about them during her 2026 interview.

The Prosecutor Draft in EFTA00089268

EFTA00089268 is an October 6, 2020 email from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. It contains draft facts prepared as part of a possible proposal to lawyers for Sarah Kellen Vickers.

The document is exceptionally important, but its status must be stated correctly. It is a negotiating draft. It is not a signed plea agreement, a confession, an indictment, a verdict, or a judgment.

The draft says prosecutors did not dispute a psychologist’s report concluding that Kellen was a sex trafficking victim. It describes her as financially destitute and isolated when she entered Epstein’s household. It also records allegations that Epstein sexually abused and forcibly raped her and controlled her food, clothing, hair, sleep, and daily life.

The same draft alleges that between 2002 and 2005 Kellen:

  • Scheduled hundreds of appointments for Epstein, commonly two or three massages per day
  • Scheduled women and girls, including dozens of minors between fourteen and seventeen years old
  • Used a directory provided by Maxwell and added names at Epstein’s direction
  • Arranged appointments mainly in Palm Beach and sometimes in New York
  • Met girls and young women, walked them to the massage room, prepared the table, and sometimes paid them in cash
  • Arranged drivers to transport massage providers
  • Knew that some appointments conflicted with school and heard Epstein refer to one girl preparing for standardized college admission testing
  • Was present for and participated in a massage during which Epstein allegedly touched a minor’s genitals
  • Walked in on sexual conduct and nude massages
  • Took nude or partly nude photographs of more than one minor at Epstein’s direction
  • Contacted multiple minor victims after learning of the 2005 investigation and encouraged them not to speak with law enforcement
  • Offered money at Epstein’s direction in an alleged effort to secure silence

These are grave government allegations. The released document does not show that Kellen accepted them. No public criminal trial tested them against her, and no signed disposition followed. They should not be described as admitted facts.

The draft nevertheless shows that federal prosecutors were considering a case theory in which Kellen was both an exploited trafficking victim and a participant in conduct that allegedly obstructed investigators and facilitated abuse.

Survivor Testimony About Kellen

Survivors and witnesses placed Kellen within the routine operation of Epstein’s massage system.

At Maxwell’s federal trial, a survivor identified by the pseudonym Carolyn testified that Kellen scheduled appointments and took nude photographs of her at Epstein’s Palm Beach residence while she was a minor. The jury convicted Maxwell, not Kellen. Carolyn’s testimony is evidence concerning Kellen, but it was introduced in a case where Kellen was not a defendant and did not present a defense.

Other civil records and survivor accounts have described assistants as people who controlled access, communicated appointment times, prepared rooms, paid massage providers, and helped normalize the environment. The degree of each assistant’s knowledge and responsibility must be assessed individually. Employment in an Epstein household alone is not proof of criminal conduct.

Kellen’s name also appears repeatedly in civil litigation. In a 2016 deposition connected to Virginia Giuffre‘s case against Maxwell, Kellen invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to most substantive questions. An invocation is a constitutional protection and is not proof of guilt. It did, however, leave many allegations unanswered in that proceeding.

Kellen’s Account of Abuse and Control

Kellen opened her 2026 congressional interview by saying she had worked for Epstein and had been sexually and psychologically abused by him for more than a decade. She described grooming, control, isolation, humiliation, rape, and constant sexual demands.

She testified that she initially worked for months without pay. She said Epstein later tied a salary of approximately $25,000 a year to sexual submission and that she was on call at all hours. She alleged weekly sexual abuse, including rape in the Palm Beach gym, assaults at night, abuse aboard aircraft, and sexual commands by video call while Epstein was incarcerated.

Kellen said clinicians diagnosed major depressive disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety, and complex post traumatic stress disorder connected to the abuse. The 2020 prosecutor draft and a redacted federal interview record independently show that prosecutors received a psychological assessment supporting her trafficking victim status.

She also accused Maxwell of sexual abuse and coercive control. Her testimony described Maxwell as someone who enforced Epstein’s demands and degraded her. Maxwell has been convicted of crimes involving the grooming and trafficking of minors, but the specific allegations made by Kellen were not separately adjudicated in Maxwell’s trial.

Kellen said she finally broke away from Epstein’s control in 2013 after becoming engaged. She nonetheless remained in occasional contact with him. Continued contact with an abuser does not by itself disprove abuse. It is also relevant to evaluating later payments, communications, and claims about when she achieved independence.

The 2007 Nonprosecution Agreement

The federal agreement signed on September 24, 2007 included an unusually broad promise that the United States Attorney’s Office in South Florida would not bring charges against any potential coconspirators of Epstein, including but not limited to Sarah Kellen, Adriana Ross, Lesley Groff, and Nadia Marcinkova. The exact language appears in EFTA00040089.

The phrase in the agreement is potential coconspirators. It does not mean the four women were convicted coconspirators. None received a criminal judgment through that agreement.

Kellen testified in 2026 that prosecutors did not interview her before the agreement, did not ask her to cooperate, and did not tell her that she had been named. She said she learned about the provision one or two years after it was executed.

The agreement became effective as part of the resolution that culminated in Epstein’s Florida state plea in 2008. Its secrecy and its treatment of survivors later produced extensive litigation and public criticism. For Kellen, it created a central unresolved question: federal prosecutors expressly protected her as a potential coconspirator without obtaining a public account of what she knew or did.

The Maxwell Sentencing Finding

On June 28, 2022, United States District Judge Alison Nathan addressed whether Kellen counted as a participant supervised by Maxwell for federal sentencing purposes. Applying the preponderance of the evidence standard, the judge found that Kellen was a knowing participant in the criminal conspiracy and a criminally responsible participant.

The judge relied in part on Carolyn’s testimony that Kellen scheduled massages and took nude photographs of her. The court also credited evidence that Maxwell supervised Kellen. The defense had argued that Kellen replaced Maxwell and operated under Epstein rather than Maxwell, but the court rejected that framing for sentencing purposes.

This is the strongest judicial finding concerning Kellen’s role. It is not equivalent to proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Sentencing findings apply a lower standard, and the proceeding determined Maxwell’s sentence. Kellen was not charged, was not a party, and did not receive a trial in which she could contest the evidence.

The finding should therefore be reported neither as a conviction nor as meaningless commentary. It is a formal federal court determination based on evidence presented in Maxwell’s case.

Federal Interviews in 2019 and 2020

Kellen testified that her first completed law enforcement interview occurred in 2019 and that she later told federal investigators everything she knew. Her account requires one clarification. She also described a 2007 incident at the St. Thomas airport in which two federal agents approached her and another woman, but Epstein intervened, spoke to the agents, and the agents left. The distinction appears to be between an attempted approach and an actual interview.

EFTA01246595 is a heavily redacted FBI interview report dated April 23, 2020. Its details closely match Kellen’s later public account, including her background, employment, alleged abuse, relationship with Epstein, and a $250,000 transfer in November 2018. Because the released copy redacts the interviewee’s name, it is best described as a record closely matching her account rather than treating the redacted identity as independently established by that document alone.

The interview record describes the subject as having stopped working for Epstein but continuing monthly contact. It states that Epstein transferred $250,000 after problems with an apartment renovation and instructed the recipient not to tell anyone. In 2026, Kellen confirmed the payment and denied understanding it as hush money. She said she was unaware of a renewed investigation at the time.

The timing and secrecy instruction justify scrutiny. The reviewed public record does not contain a judicial finding that the transfer purchased silence.

The Unfinished 2020 Plea Track

The October 2020 draft in EFTA00089268 shows that prosecutors were discussing a possible resolution with Kellen’s lawyers. It includes alternative factual language and refers to a potential proposal. No released record shows that Kellen signed the draft.

A November 5, 2020 Justice Department briefing, EFTA00013209, refers to a redacted Epstein associate who scheduled hundreds of sexual massages with minors, was also regarded as a victim, and might plead to an obstruction related count. The description closely resembles the Kellen draft. Because the name remains redacted, the identity cannot be confirmed solely from the released copy.

No public charge or plea followed. The documentary trail raises an important question about why prosecutors considered a resolution and then did not bring a public case. It does not establish that Kellen accepted criminal responsibility.

The 2026 House Interview

Kellen voluntarily appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on May 21, 2026. The formal interview lasted about six hours, and the released transcript runs 149 pages. The Committee published the transcript and on June 4 referred certain allegations she made against other individuals to the Justice Department.

Kellen gave extensive testimony about her own recruitment, sexual abuse, travel, household work, health consequences, and dealings with Epstein and Maxwell. She also answered questions about properties, prominent visitors, directories, aircraft, and business arrangements.

Her lawyers sharply limited questions about other victims. They instructed her not to answer many questions involving massage providers, ages, recruitment, cash payments, photographs of other people, and the substance of potential criminal exposure. Counsel said use immunity could allow fuller answers.

Kellen repeatedly said she wanted to answer but followed counsel’s instructions. At the end, committee staff asked whether she would invoke the Fifth Amendment if compelled. Her lawyer said any invocation would be decided question by question in a proper proceeding. Kellen did not make a Fifth Amendment invocation during the voluntary interview.

That distinction matters. Saying that she refused every question or invoked the Fifth in 2026 would be inaccurate. Saying that she fully answered the central questions about other victims would also be inaccurate.

Directories, Photographs, and Potential Evidence

Kellen testified that Maxwell maintained a general directory containing contacts used across Epstein’s homes. She said assistants entered names in a shared computer system and printed copies were available in the properties. She rejected the suggestion that it was only a directory of massage providers.

She also testified that she digitized old photographs for Epstein and Maxwell. Her lawyers prevented questions about photographs depicting other people where the answers might create legal exposure.

Kellen described an episode around 2006 when Epstein instructed her to gather printed directories and photographs in the New York residence and place them on a dining room table for lawyers. She said she did not remove the materials from the property and did not know what the lawyers did with them. She separately referred to another assistant being told to remove hard drives from the Palm Beach house.

This testimony establishes her account of gathering potential evidence after the investigation began. It does not establish that she destroyed evidence or knew the purpose of the instructions. The prosecutor draft separately alleges obstruction related conduct involving contacts with minor victims. That allegation was never tried.

Travel and Access

Flight records place Kellen on numerous Epstein aircraft legs, and she testified that she flew constantly and was probably present for a majority of his trips during parts of her employment. She coordinated with pilots and passengers, supplied aircraft, loaded luggage, and arranged travel.

Kellen described journeys involving political, royal, business, and social figures, including trips connected to Bill Clinton, a visit involving Fidel Castro, a meal involving the Sultan of Brunei, travel to Israel involving Ehud Barak, and events involving members of the British royal family. She also described a brief meeting with Donald Trump at Mar a Lago.

Presence on a trip or at an event does not establish knowledge of or participation in Epstein’s crimes. These details matter because they show the extraordinary access surrounding the household and the reach of the logistics Kellen helped manage. They should not be converted into allegations against every named traveler or host.

SLK Designs and Financial Records

Corporate records show that SLK Designs LLC was formed on September 15, 2009. EFTA02131473 documents the company filing, while EFTA01423319 contains bank account opening correspondence.

Kellen testified that attorney Darren Indyke helped establish SLK Designs and that the company supported interior design, payroll, insurance, and staffing functions. The business had financial connections to Epstein’s entity network.

The existence of a company, a bank account, or a payment does not by itself establish criminal activity. These records are relevant because they show how Kellen’s employment and compensation became embedded in Epstein’s wider administrative structure.

The November 2018 payment of $250,000 is separately significant because it occurred after Kellen said she had left regular employment and because Epstein allegedly demanded secrecy. Kellen characterized the money as assistance with renovation expenses. No reviewed court record resolved the purpose of the transfer.

New Allegations Raised in 2026

During her House interview, Kellen alleged that Frédéric Fekkai sexually assaulted her before introducing her to Epstein. She also alleged that former Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine forced himself on her at an Epstein property in Saint Tropez around 2002 or 2003. She described a separate incident involving photographer Patrick Demarchelier.

On June 4, 2026, House Oversight Chairman James Comer and other lawmakers asked the Justice Department to investigate the allegations concerning Fekkai and Levine. The committee stated that it is not a law enforcement body and does not determine guilt.

Representatives for both men denied wrongdoing. Fekkai’s representative said he never assaulted anyone, never participated in illegal conduct, knew nothing about Epstein’s trafficking, and did not introduce Kellen to Epstein. Levine’s representative described a brief consensual encounter between adults and denied any allegation of assault. Levine has also said his contact with Epstein arose through his former friendship with Maxwell and that he regrets meeting Epstein.

These allegations remain allegations. A congressional referral is a request for investigation, not a charge, factual finding, or conviction. The individuals named are entitled to the presumption of innocence unless guilt is established in court.

Legal and Evidence Status

Established by primary records

  • Kellen worked within Epstein and Maxwell’s household and travel operation for years.
  • The 2007 federal agreement named her as a potential coconspirator and promised that the South Florida federal office would not prosecute covered potential coconspirators.
  • She invoked the Fifth Amendment in a 2016 civil deposition.
  • She participated in federal interviews beginning in 2019 and appeared for a voluntary congressional interview in 2026.
  • A 2020 prosecutor draft addressed a possible resolution with her lawyers and described both her victimization and alleged facilitation.
  • A federal judge found at Maxwell’s sentencing that Kellen was a knowing and criminally responsible participant under the preponderance standard.
  • Kellen has not been criminally charged or convicted in connection with Epstein’s crimes.

Alleged but not adjudicated against Kellen

  • That she knowingly scheduled sexual access to minors.
  • That she participated in a massage involving sexual contact with a minor.
  • That she photographed minors nude or partly nude at Epstein’s direction.
  • That she contacted victims or offered money to discourage cooperation with investigators.

Kellen’s allegations and account

  • That Epstein and Maxwell sexually and psychologically abused and controlled her.
  • That her work and sexual submission were enforced through economic dependence, grooming, threats, and trauma.
  • That Fekkai, Levine, and Demarchelier engaged in separate sexual misconduct involving her.
  • That she did not know she was named in the nonprosecution agreement when it was signed.
  • That the 2018 payment from Epstein was financial help, not payment for silence.

Unresolved

  • The full extent of Kellen’s knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of other victims.
  • Which acts, if any, she performed under coercion and which involved independent intent.
  • Why the contemplated 2020 federal resolution did not produce a public charge or plea.
  • What happened to directories, photographs, and electronic material gathered after the investigation began.
  • Whether prosecutors or investigators will act on the allegations referred by Congress in 2026.

Evidence Assessment

The evidence concerning Kellen is unusually layered.

The strongest evidence of her employment and operational role comes from her own testimony, flight and business records, survivor testimony, the 2007 agreement, the 2020 prosecutor draft, and the Maxwell sentencing record. These sources overlap on scheduling, household logistics, travel, directories, photographs, and proximity to Epstein.

The strongest evidence supporting her survivor status comes from her detailed accounts to federal investigators and Congress, the psychological assessment acknowledged by prosecutors, and the government’s own willingness to describe her as a trafficking victim while evaluating possible charges.

The strongest accountability finding is Judge Nathan’s 2022 determination. Its weight is real but limited by context: it was made under a lower standard of proof in another defendant’s sentencing.

The greatest evidentiary gap concerns Kellen’s knowledge and intent. Her 2016 invocation and her lawyers’ restrictions in 2026 prevented direct public answers to many of the most important questions. The unfinished 2020 negotiations show that prosecutors examined those issues, but the public documents stop before a final resolution.

Timeline

Before 2001

Kellen says she experienced childhood isolation, abuse by an older man, an early marriage, divorce, and separation from her family and religious community.

Approximately 2001

Kellen meets Frédéric Fekkai in Hawaii and later meets Epstein in Los Angeles. She begins working for Epstein and Maxwell at approximately age twenty two.

2001 through 2005

Kellen works across Epstein’s properties and travel system. The later prosecutor draft alleges that she schedules hundreds of massages and assists conduct involving minors.

2005

Palm Beach police begin investigating Epstein. The 2020 prosecutor draft alleges that Kellen contacts minor victims and discourages cooperation. No trial resolves the allegation.

Approximately 2006

Kellen says Epstein instructs her to gather directories and photographs at the New York residence for lawyers. She also recalls hearing that another assistant was instructed to remove Palm Beach hard drives.

September 24, 2007

The South Florida United States Attorney’s Office signs the nonprosecution agreement naming Kellen and three other women as potential coconspirators covered by its protection.

2007

Kellen says federal agents approach her at the St. Thomas airport, but Epstein intervenes and no interview occurs.

June 30, 2008

Epstein pleads guilty in Florida state court as part of the resolution connected to the federal agreement.

September 15, 2009

SLK Designs LLC is formed.

2013

Kellen says she ends regular employment and breaks from Epstein’s control after becoming engaged.

2016

Kellen invokes the Fifth Amendment in a civil deposition connected to Giuffre v. Maxwell.

November 2018

Epstein transfers $250,000 to Kellen after she seeks help with apartment renovation expenses. She says he instructs her not to disclose the payment.

2019

Kellen participates in a completed federal law enforcement interview, according to her later testimony.

April 23, 2020

The FBI records a proffer interview in a heavily redacted report whose details closely match Kellen’s later account.

October 6, 2020

Federal prosecutors circulate draft facts for a possible proposal to Kellen’s lawyers. The draft is not signed.

November 5, 2020

A Justice Department briefing refers to a redacted associate who may plead to an obstruction related count. The description resembles the Kellen proposal, but the released document does not identify the person.

December 29, 2021

A federal jury convicts Maxwell on five criminal counts. Evidence at trial includes Carolyn’s testimony concerning Kellen.

June 28, 2022

Judge Nathan finds at Maxwell’s sentencing that Kellen was a knowing and criminally responsible participant under the preponderance standard.

March 3, 2026

House Oversight requests Kellen’s appearance in its Epstein investigation.

May 21, 2026

Kellen participates in a voluntary 149 page transcribed interview with the committee.

June 4, 2026

The committee releases material from the interview and asks the Justice Department to investigate allegations Kellen made against Fekkai and Levine.

Direct Epstein Data Records

Related EpsteinWiki Pages

Sources

Primary records

Reporting and context

Editorial Note

This article separates convictions, judicial findings, government allegations, survivor testimony, witness accounts, and Kellen’s own claims. It does not treat appearance in a directory, flight log, photograph, or financial record as proof of criminal conduct.

Descriptions of minors and survivors are limited to what is necessary to understand the evidence. Private addresses, account numbers, contact details, and other identifying information have been excluded.

The article should be updated if a court, law enforcement agency, or congressional committee releases a new finding concerning Kellen or the allegations referred in 2026.

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