Where Are the Tears for Ava Cordero?

How the press silenced a trans woman who tried to stop Jeffrey Epstein

Ava Cordero 1 — Ava Cordero, New York Post article. Widely shared images

Anni Arbour

Published: May 8, 2026 | Last Updated: May 8, 2026

Transgender people have never been treated well by the mainstream media. Usually, whenever one in our community makes it into the news cycle, it is in a negative context. Certainly, whenever they are suspected of a major crime. More often, though, they are the victim. And if so, they are soon forgotten.

The ongoing drip, drip, drip of revelations from the heavily redacted Epstein files has revived memories of Ava Cordero, a young trans woman who was one of Jeffrey Epstein's earliest accusers.

In October 2007, Cordero filed a lawsuit against Epstein for sexually abusing her when she was only 16 years old, circa 2000. That month, the New York Post ran two articles regarding this suit — and instead of presenting Cordero's claims with the usual respect and anonymity shown to potential sexual abuse victims, the Post homed in on her transgender identity. Their reporters misgendered her, deadnamed her and quoted the accusations of Epstein's lawyer without dispute.

The Oct. 23, 2007, article bearing the salacious title "GENDER-BEND SHOCKER: Kinky-Sex Suit Gal Is a Man" cherry-picked snippets of immature postings Cordero had made on her Myspace page and used them as fodder for their presentation of her as a "promiscuous slut." Epstein's attorney was quoted as saying he was "girding for more craziness with people trying to go after his client's money" and that "it wouldn't surprise me if the next claim was from the Loch Ness monster."

The follow-up article the next day dug up a previous statutory rape claim Cordero had brought against another man named Glen Gentile in 2002. Snarkily titled "(S)HE HAS A HISTORY: Bogus Sex Suit," it stated: "The transsexual [sic] who says she was pressured into an affair with billionaire Jeffrey Epstein when she was 16 once filed a similar — and bogus — claim against another older man."

Other media outlets piled on and cast aspersions on Cordero's claims simply because of her gender. One such piece appeared in New York magazine with the title "Maximilia Cordero Is a Dude." And even the reputably objective Associated Press left unchallenged Epstein's lawyer's statement claiming, "The girl has admitted she is insane, but she can read a newspaper and recognize the word 'rich.'"

Cordero's story once again came to light with the revelations in the Epstein files. Even so, she has been treated as a minor footnote to his long predatory legacy, with few bothering to look into her life either before or since she took Epstein to court.

Cordero was born in Brooklyn on Nov. 15, 1983, and as the eldest child in a Hispanic family, she was named after her father. Around age 12, she began wearing girls' clothes and chose the name "Avarelle." She later went by Ava Cordero. Her coming out led to estrangement from her biological family, and she later claimed to have been raised in foster homes.

On her Myspace page, Cordero wrote about her aspiration to be a fashion model — a desire that proved to be the lure used by what court records described as "an acquaintance named Sherrie, an older woman in her 40s," who "told the plaintiff that she had a 'super wealthy' friend who could help plaintiff develop a modeling career."

Cordero brought her own modeling portfolio to show Jeffrey Epstein, who dangled the prospect of modeling for Victoria's Secret to the teenager. He conducted the meeting wrapped in a bathrobe and at its conclusion asked Cordero for a massage, presumably in exchange for the $300 he usually paid other teenage girls. Poor and naïve, she agreed.

The disturbing details of Epstein's sexual assaults on the young aspiring model can be found all over the internet, reprinted ad nauseam for the smut-loving public. Epstein pursued Cordero for more than a year and even tried to get her to fly to Thailand with him to recruit "ladyboys" for his nefarious purposes.

Out-lawyered and publicly humiliated, Cordero eventually settled out of court with Epstein for a paltry $28,000 on the condition she sign a nondisclosure agreement. The impact all this had upon her was unquantifiable.

In 2002, Cordero met William Unroch, a sleazy lawyer-cum-pornographer who represented her in her statutory rape lawsuit against Gentile. A 2006 New York Daily News article noted that despite their 30-year age difference, Unroch and Cordero were a couple and lived together. He also took on her case against Epstein, and after his botched handling of that lawsuit, they sued the New York Post for defamation. During an argument over money, Cordero pulled a knife on Unroch. He called the police, and she spent a few days in Rikers Island jail. Her new attorney lost the case to the Post on a technicality in 2008. Then in 2014, Cordero was arrested for burglary and spent seven months in prison.

A March 2, 2017, article in the New York Daily News reported that police came upon the smashed glass door of a Manhattan Victoria's Secret store and found Cordero in the act of "stocking up on $1,000 of pushup bras, G-strings, thongs and makeup," according to the paper. It seemed an ironic choice of theft target, given that Epstein had long served as a financial manager and confidant to Victoria's Secret founder Les Wexner, giving him deep ties to the brand that had once been dangled as bait before her. Based on her record, it's likely Cordero once again faced prison time.

Cordero's life has followed a downward spiral ever since she first encountered Jeffrey Epstein. Other men abused and exploited her. She suffered the effects of life on the street. The courts never provided her with justice, and the mainstream media tossed aside any sympathetic journalistic restraint and joined in debasing her.

Even those in the #MeToo movement forgot about Cordero as they championed other Epstein victims who stepped forward and publicly testified about their own abuse. We have become accustomed to seeing them testify tearfully before Congress and news cameras, appearing alongside their high-profile attorneys. And while those victims are unquestionably entitled to the millions of dollars in restitution they are receiving from the Epstein estate and others complicit in his crimes, Cordero received nothing beyond the $28,000 she settled for.

So, where are the tears for Ava Cordero?

It took time, but I found her. She is living in a facility that provides housing for people experiencing homelessness who are living with HIV or struggling with addiction. I called the shelter and spoke with the security desk, told them I was a journalist and convinced them to let me speak with her. They put me through to her phone.

A soft feminine voice answered, and I introduced myself. I started to tell her that I wanted only to reassure her she had not been forgotten, not to discuss the Epstein case, which had brought her so much grief. But she stopped me before I could finish.

"I'm so sorry, but I can't." And with that she hung up.

It was a frustrating conclusion to a well-intentioned quest, but I understand her reluctance to face scrutiny. She had suffered so much from past media attention, and even though I told her I was a trans journalist, she had no reason to believe I wouldn't exploit her, too.

Take comfort in the fact that Ava Cordero is still among us — a resilient example of how American society, and mainstream media in particular, abuses, misuses and ultimately discards its most marginalized people. Don't expect any tears for Ava Cordero, but don't forget her.