Child sexual abuse in the United States

American musician (1926–2017)

Jeffrey Edward Epstein was an American financier and child sex offender. He began his career as a math teacher at the Dalton School, before entering the banking and finance sector. Over several decades, he made much of his fortune providing tax and estate services to billionaires, and cultivated an elite social circle of prominent individuals. In 2008, he was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution, and was indicted in 2019 for sex trafficking minors in the 2000s. He died in custody awaiting his trial; his death was ruled a suicide.

American singer, songwriter, and record producer

American actor and comedian

Carlos Irwin Estévez, known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He is known as a leading man in film and television. Sheen has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards and three Actor Awards. In 1994, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Theodore Robert Bundy was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls between 1974 and 1978. His modus operandi typically consisted of convincing his target that he was in need of assistance or duping them into believing he was an authority figure. He would then lure his victim to his vehicle, at which point he would bludgeon them unconscious, then restrain them with handcuffs before driving them to a remote location to be sexually assaulted and killed.

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killer and sex offender who killed and dismembered seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991.

The Epstein files are a partially released collection of millions of documents, images, videos, and emails detailing the activities of American financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including his social circle of public figures, politicians, and celebrities. The files include documents collected as evidence in the criminal cases against Epstein and his associates, stored as over 300 gigabytes of data, alongside other media, in the FBI's Sentinel case management system. They include Epstein's contact book, flight logs of his planes, and court documents. Many of the records and files belong to Epstein's estate, which is run by lawyer Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn.

Anne Celeste Heche was an American actress, known for her roles across a variety of genres in film, television, and theater. She was the recipient of Daytime Emmy, National Board of Review, and GLAAD Media Awards, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy.

American film director, writer and producer

Hamilton Howard "Albert" Fish was an American serial killer, rapist, child molester and cannibal who committed at least three child murders between July 1924 and June 1928. He was also known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Moon Maniac, and the Boogey Man. Fish was a suspect in at least ten murders during his lifetime, although he only confessed to three murders that police were able to trace to a known homicide. He also confessed to stabbing at least two other people.

Cesario Estrada "Cesar" Chavez was an American labor unionist and political activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers (UFW). Ideologically, his worldview combined leftism with Catholic social teaching.

American novelist and editor (1930–1999)

Ghislaine Noelle Marion Maxwell is a British former socialite and convicted child sex offender. In 2021 she was convicted of child sex trafficking, and in 2022 was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Lance Taylor, known professionally as Afrika Bambaataa, was an American disc jockey, rapper and record producer. He was notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of hip-hop culture. Bambaataa was one of the originators of breakbeat DJing.

American serial killer (1960–2013)

American religious leader (1897-1975)

American track and field athlete

American actor

American politician (born 1942)

American serial killer, rapist, burglar and former police officer

American serial killer (1891–1930)

American serial killer (1939–1973)

Christian new religious movement founded by David Berg in 1968 in the United States

American jurist and politician (born 1947)

American film director

aerial skier

unsolved serial murders

2003 film by Andrew Jarecki

Jean-Luc Didier Henri René Brunel was a French model scout and alleged sex trafficker. He gained prominence by leading the international modelling agency Karin Models, and founded MC2 Model Management with financing by Jeffrey Epstein. The subject of a 60 Minutes investigation in 1988, Brunel faced allegations of procuring prostitution and sexual assault spanning three decades.

residential schools established to assimilate Native American children into a white American society

American serial killer (1947–1996)

child murder case in Indianapolis

series of kidnappings and murders in Los Angeles and Riverside County, California

Major League Baseball pitcher

American architect (1853-1906)

In 1993, Evan Chandler, a dentist and screenwriter based in Los Angeles, accused the American singer Michael Jackson of sexually abusing his 13-year-old son, Jordan Chandler. Jackson had befriended Jordan after renting a vehicle from Jordan's stepfather. Though Evan initially encouraged the friendship, he confronted his ex-wife, who had custody of Jordan, with suspicions that the relationship was inappropriate.

American figure skater

French Olympic figure skater

American murder victim (1981–1993)

American writer

part of American Catholic Church child sex abuse scandal, reported in 2002

American vigilante

Accusations about the rapper P. Diddy

sexual abuse of female athletes by people in the industry

American reality television series focusing on exposing pedophiles through sting operations.

American kidnapping victim and advocate

The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart occurred on June 5, 2002, when 14-year-old American girl Elizabeth Ann Smart was kidnapped from her home in Salt Lake City, Utah by Brian David Mitchell.

kidnapping victim and later sheriff's deputy

American gymnastics coach (1957-2021)

American spree killer (1940-1990)

American Ku Klux Klan leader (1891–1966)

1989 murder in the United States

UK royal scandal

American webmaster pornographer

quadruple murder case of four teenage girls that took place on Friday, December 6, 1991

American murder case

Bill Cosby sexual assault allegations

American criminal

2025 U.S. art installation