First Witness Testifies to 2012 Alleged Rape in Alexander Brothers Manhattan Sex‑Trafficking Trial

📌 Key Facts

• Jury selection in the federal sex‑trafficking case against brothers Oren, Tal and Alon Alexander began in Manhattan; opening statements were set to begin the following week and prosecutors said the trial could run into early March as they outline alleged sexual assaults spanning roughly a 12‑year period.
• Prosecutors filed a third superseding indictment in two months, including a new charge tied to an alleged 2012 incident added days before jury selection; the indictment alleges victims were lured with luxury travel, hotels and parties (including in the Hamptons) and were sometimes drugged before assaults.
• The first trial witness, testifying under the pseudonym “Katie Moore,” described meeting Tal and Alon Alexander at a 2012 party at actor Zac Efron’s New York apartment, saying she drank alcohol and used Molly for the first time, later woke naked in another apartment with Alon over her, repeatedly told him she did not want sex and alleged he overpowered and raped her; she said Tal briefly entered the room appearing “super nonchalant” and did not intervene, and quoted Alon as taunting her during the encounter.
• Defense counsel have moved to dismiss or withhold certain counts — including a pared‑down conspiracy charge and a sexual‑exploitation‑of‑a‑minor count against Oren Alexander that carries a 15‑year mandatory minimum — and have accused prosecutors of unfairly rewriting the case with late indictments.
• Judge Valerie Caproni denied a government request to call a late‑disclosed conspiracy witness and otherwise kept the case on track for trial, rejecting the defense’s attempt to recast the indictment as mere “men behaving badly” and emphasizing the seriousness of the charges.
• At trial defense attorneys, including Teny Geragos, framed the brothers’ conduct as consensual and reflective of hookup culture, arguing accusers later characterized encounters as assaults out of regret or for financial gain.
• Defense‑bar analysis noted the defense faces an “uphill battle,” with attorney Todd Spodek warning voir dire will be difficult given “double digits” of accusers, and defense teams have flagged the timing of the late superseding charges as tactically questionable.
• Separately, an early accuser, Kate Whiteman, 45, was found dead in New South Wales, Australia late last year; her cause of death is under investigation by the coroner.

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