A Georgetown, Kentucky woman has filed a pro se civil lawsuit against Donald J. Trump in Palm Beach County, alleging that he raped her in 1997 at a Florida hotel where Jeffrey Epstein was also present. The complaint seeks $1.3 million in compensatory damages, but the case is currently sitting under an administrative hold before it can even move forward.
Elyse Relford's complaint was assigned case number 50-2026-CA-011136-XXXA-MB, according to BocaNewsNow.com, but court clerks placed the proceeding on hold because of a deficiency in the civil cover sheet required to properly index and assign the case. The outlet reports that Relford, who lives in Georgetown, Kentucky, is representing herself without an attorney. Under Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts rules, self-represented filers must meet the same filing, service, and cover-sheet requirements as licensed attorneys, and clerks are barred from helping complete the paperwork or offering legal advice — a common reason, per those same court instructions, that pro se filings stall before they are ever formally processed.
What the Complaint Alleges
According to the complaint as described by BocaNewsNow.com, Relford says she was present with Epstein and Trump at the Florida hotel when the alleged assault occurred, and that Trump's conduct caused vaginal bleeding and severe physical injury. The filing further alleges that Trump impersonated her biological father during the encounter, and that he knew she had been separated from her father by Epstein. The complaint also attributes specific statements to both men during the alleged incident, including remarks Trump is said to have made about her race and the possibility of disease, and a comment attributed to Epstein noting that she was wealthy.
Relford's suit asserts four causes of action: battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and harassment. She claims the alleged conduct caused severe emotional trauma, humiliation, mental anguish, and continuing psychological harm, along with damage to her reputation and ongoing financial losses. Beyond the $1.3 million in compensatory damages, the complaint requests additional damages authorized by law, court costs, and any further relief the court deems just, per the same BocaNewsNow.com report.
A Nearly Three-Decade Gap Poses a Legal Hurdle
The lawsuit faces a steep legal obstacle beyond its paperwork problems: the alleged incident took place in 1997, roughly 29 years before the complaint was filed. Under Florida Statutes § 95.11(3)(n), civil claims for battery and other intentional torts generally must be filed within four years of the alleged incident. TIME reported that writer E. Jean Carroll brought her New York case under New York's Adult Survivors Act. Carroll sued Trump over a mid-1990s incident.
That New York case offers a point of comparison for how civil juries have handled historical sexual misconduct allegations against Trump. A federal jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages in May 2023 after finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, a verdict that was upheld on appeal and finalized in 2026, Forbes reported. A related defamation suit brought by Carroll resulted in a jury ordering Trump to pay an additional $83.3 million in damages.
No Formal Response Yet From Trump's Side
As of October 2, no attorneys representing Trump had filed a formal answer, notice of appearance, or other legal pleading in response to the Palm Beach County case, BocaNewsNow.com reported. Under Florida civil procedure, a formal response is only required once valid service of process has been executed, which itself depends on the case first clearing its administrative cover-sheet hold. It remains unclear whether or when Relford will attempt service on Trump.
Part of a Broader Epstein Document Trail in Florida
The filing lands amid a wider wave of scrutiny over Epstein's historical footprint in Palm Beach County. Hoodline has previously reported that federal search warrants and unsealed Department of Justice records showed Epstein maintained multiple industrial storage units in Palm Beach and Delray Beach containing electronic storage devices and records. Separately, the DOJ expanded its searchable public Epstein Library in January 2026 to nearly 3.5 million pages of unsealed files and investigative logs, though the agency has cautioned that those releases include a wide range of unverified user submissions and administrative material.
Palm Beach County's courts have already been a venue for Epstein-related litigation this year. Former State Attorney Dave Aronberg filed his own civil defamation lawsuit in July 2026 over news coverage of historical 2006 Palm Beach grand jury transcripts tied to the Epstein investigation, underscoring how contentious the county's historical Epstein records remain in local courtrooms. Whether Relford's case clears its administrative hold, and how she intends to address the statute-of-limitations question, remain open issues as the filing sits in procedural limbo.
