The Scheduler

For eighteen years, Lesley Groff answered the phone.

She scheduled the massages. She booked the flights. She arranged the visas, managed the call lists, coordinated the dinner parties, and forwarded the American Express itineraries. From a fourth-floor office at 575 Lexington Avenue — the law practice of Darren Indyke, Jeffrey Epstein's personal attorney — Groff ran the daily logistics of an enterprise that federal prosecutors would later describe as sex trafficking.1

When the FBI finally moved on Epstein in July 2019, the SDNY arrest briefing named Groff and two other schedulers as subjects requiring subpoenas with "special precautions."2 The prosecutors' assessment of their likely defense was blunt:

"Any statements from those individuals that they were not involved in scheduling sexual massages we would view as not credible."2

Groff was never charged.

What the Victims Described

The prosecution record is unambiguous about Groff's role. Victim after victim identified "Leslie" as the woman who called to schedule their appointments with Epstein.

Victim-1 "would schedule appointments for the girls by phone with Epstein's assistant, 'Leslie.'" Prosecutors confirmed: "Based on the investigation, we have identified 'Leslie' as Leslie Groff."3 Another victim recalled that Groff purchased underwear for her at Victoria's Secret on Epstein's explicit instructions.4

One account placed Groff at the threshold of the abuse itself:

"[Victim] recalled that Leslie Groff and Maxwell coordinated the travel logistics for her and Epstein. She recalls that Groff was right outside the closed door to Epstein's office on one occasion when Epstein forced [victim] to perform oral sex on him."5

Groff did not merely schedule. She supervised other schedulers, training at least one employee on "how to make scheduling calls" and serving as her "direct supervisor."6 She booked the interstate flights that brought victims to Epstein's residences — a fact the prosecution memo documented as evidence of trafficking logistics.1

The Immunity Shield

Groff was not a new name to federal investigators. She had been identified during the original FBI probe a decade earlier — Serial #130 in the case file index records a formal "INTERVIEW OF LESLIE GROFF."7

When the 2007 Non-Prosecution Agreement was negotiated between Epstein and the Southern District of Florida, Groff was one of four named co-conspirators given blanket immunity:

"Non Prosecution Agreement covering Epstein, 4 co-conspirators ([redacted] and Lesley Groff) and any potential co-conspirators."8

The other three were Sarah Kellen, Adriana Ross, and one person whose name remains redacted. The Deutsche Bank compliance report later confirmed Groff's status: "Lesley Groff was one of the four co-conspirators given immunity in connection with Epstein's Non-Prosecution Agreement."9

But SDNY took a different position. The Southern District of New York argued that the Florida NPA did not bind them:

"The non-prosecution agreement does not apply to the Southern District of New York, and even if it did, we are charging conduct beyond the scope of that agreement."10

The immunity shield had a crack. SDNY could have charged her. They chose not to.

The Indyke Office

What makes Groff unusual among Epstein's staff is where she worked. She did not operate from Epstein's East 71st Street mansion. She worked from the fourth floor of 575 Lexington Avenue — the offices of Darren K. Indyke PLLC, Epstein's personal attorney.11

Her email address was lgroff@dkipllc.com. Public records confirmed she was "employed as an executive assistant for his law practice."11 She coordinated regularly with Indyke's legal assistant, Bebe Avdiu, about Epstein's schedule.12 She arranged car service for Indyke himself.12

And she held corporate authority. On the bank records for Jeepers, Inc — one of Epstein's corporate entities — Groff was listed as an Authorized Signer alongside Indyke and Epstein.13

The Money

The financial record of Groff's relationship with Epstein extends well beyond a normal assistant's salary. Deutsche Bank compliance records document a series of wire transfers from Epstein entities to Groff between 2016 and 2018:

These payments came years after Epstein's 2008 Florida conviction — during a period when, by the prosecution's own account, Groff's scheduling role had continued uninterrupted.

Epstein also funded Groff's legal defense. When victim Jane Doe 43 filed suit, Epstein paid $490,001 to Steptoe & Johnson and $100,000 to attorney Scott J. Link — nearly $600,000 in legal fees for a single employee's civil defense.9

The FBI took the financial trail seriously. On August 27, 2019, an FBI forensic accountant created FinCEN financial alerts for Groff — placing her on the same financial surveillance list as Epstein, Maxwell, Indyke, Les Wexner's former associate Richard Kahn, and Jean-Luc Brunel.14

The Proffer

After Epstein's arrest in July 2019, Groff's legal trajectory followed a pattern that ended without consequence.

On July 18, 2019 — twelve days after the arrest — FBI and SDNY met with Groff and her attorneys for a reverse proffer. The case summary described the meeting as "generally positive."15 Then Groff's attorney declined further cooperation, advising her to invoke the Fifth Amendment. Prosecutors warned that "we will not be able to provide her with any sort of agreement if she does not proffer."16

Groff went silent. Epstein died on August 10. Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 and convicted in December 2021.

Then, on July 23, 2021 — with Maxwell awaiting sentencing — Groff signed a formal proffer agreement under Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss.17 Her attorney was Michael Bachner. The agreement was explicit about one thing:

"THIS IS NOT A COOPERATION AGREEMENT."17

The document contained continuation dates, meaning Groff sat for multiple sessions. What she said remains unknown. No charges followed.

The Redacted Answer

The SDNY co-conspirator prosecution memo — the 86-page document that analyzed each potential defendant — contains a section dedicated to Groff. Section D, beginning at page 85, is titled with her name.18

The section is entirely redacted.

Every word of the prosecutors' analysis of whether to charge Lesley Groff — the woman who scheduled the massages, booked the flights, trained other schedulers, and was described by prosecutors as not credibly deniable — has been removed from the public record under Category C institutional protection.18

The adjacent sections analyzing other subjects are similarly redacted. Pages 75 through 84, covering "Knowledge of Sex Acts" and "Knowledge of Age," are heavily blacked out — likely containing Groff-specific evidence assessments.18

She still does.

As late as April 2019 — weeks before the arrest that would end the operation — Groff was scheduling as she always had. In an email to an associate, she wrote: "well...Now Jeffrey says he won't be in NY those dates! So sorry! It's hard to keep up..."19

It was hard to keep up. For eighteen years, she managed.