Federal prosecutors have charged Alon, Oren, and Tal Alexander with sex trafficking, alleging that the brothers trafficked women through social media and social events. According to the indictment, some encounters allegedly involved drug-facilitated sexual activity.
The Alexanders, known for luxury real estate investments, have pleaded not guilty. Sex trafficking comes with a mandatory minimum of 15 years up to a potential life sentence.
The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York is prosecuting. Sex trafficking charges also come with the presumption of no bail. The three brothers now sit in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center as they await trial.
The case seems to have originated with a civil lawsuit filed by Kate Whiteman, an Australian national, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. She accused twins Alon and Oren Alexander of raping her in 2012, after abducting her from a nightclub and taking her to a mansion in the Hamptons.
Whiteman claims she first met the twins in 2008 when she was 28 and they were 21, and said she would often see them out in New York City. She alleges that Oren “constantly texted” her to meet up, but that she “always declined.”
She also claimed to have had no romantic interest in either of the brothers.
However, before filing her civil suit, Whiteman allegedly deleted her years-old Facebook messages to the Alexanders using the platform’s “unsend“ feature. Despite this, the Alexanders had saved screenshots of some of the messages before Whiteman deleted them.
The Alleged Abduction and Assault at Sir Ivan’s Castle
According to Whiteman’s civil complaint, on the night of Saturday, May 26, 2012, she attended Dune Night Club, a beachfront venue on Long Island, with a group of friends. She alleges that as she was preparing to leave, Alon Alexander recognized her, grabbed her hand, and led her outside to a waiting SUV, where his brother, Oren, was seated.
Whiteman claims the twins forcibly pulled her into the SUV, closed the doors, and the driver sped off. She says she repeatedly asked where they were going, but the brothers refused to answer and instead “smirked at one another.”
After a long drive, she realized they had arrived at Sir Ivan’s Castle, a well-known party mansion in the Hamptons, owned by music artist and banking heir Ivan Wilzig.
She alleges the twins led her into a garage within the Castle, where the door locked behind them. She was told to change into a sarong. When she tried to flee up the stairs to the house, she claims a security bouncer stopped her and dragged her back into the garage.
Whiteman says she was then forced to undress and change into the sarong, while her phone and belongings were locked in a storage locker by Oren, who kept the key on his wrist. The twins then allegedly brought her upstairs to a bedroom, where she claims they raped and assaulted her.
Context and Commentary
Whiteman does not name the friends she attended the Dune nightclub with, and there is no indication that any of them reported her disappearance to the authorities. The driver of the SUV has not been identified.
The drive from Dune to Sir Ivan’s Castle would have taken about 20 minutes, passing through populated areas. Whiteman states that the brothers led her into a garage that contains lockers, features consistent with reports about the Castle.
She claims a bouncer forcibly stopped her from escaping, but the bouncer has not been identified. However, Ivan’s Castle regularly employs security for parties.
Whiteman describes being forced to wear a sarong, which has been part of past themed parties at the Castle. Advertisements for themed parties say that Ivan’s Castle strictly enforces dress codes.
Although photos of many Castle parties are posted on Facebook by Ivan Wilzig, no 2012 Memorial Day Weekend party pictures appear, suggesting Whiteman may have gotten the date wrong.
Parties at Sir Ivan’s Castle are typically well attended.
No Outcry, No Witnesses, and a $35 Million Demand
Whiteman provides no details about how she left the Castle or who took her home. She did not report the alleged rape and assault to police, did not seek medical attention, and did not confide in friends or family.She did not confront the Alexanders privately. No eyewitness accounts or third-party reports support her claims.
The only available records are a handful of Facebook messages—screenshots preserved by the Alexanders—that survived Whiteman’s alleged deletions of her Facebook communications with the Alexanders.
Although her lawsuit states that she “had no interest in either brother“ and always declined Oren’s advances, the preserved messages suggest otherwise.
Facebook Text Message Before Alleged Rape and Assault
On December 18, 2011, around 3:00 am, six months before the alleged rape, Whiteman messaged Alon, saying another man had canceled on her and invited Alon to her apartment to “party.”
On April 13, 2012—six weeks before the alleged rape and assault—she messaged Oren:
“Sexy… U were so fkable tonight.“ She then gave Oren her BlackBerry PIN and wrote, “Let’s get in touch.”
On May 3, three weeks before the alleged rape and assault, Whiteman again messaged Oren, asking him to text her. There is no record that he responded.
The Rape and Assault Allegations
Whiteman claims in her lawsuit that on May 26, 2012, rape, she was “sexually assaulted, abused, raped, pinned, groped, harassed, battered, and fondled by defendants Alon and Oren.”
After the rape and assault she was “distraught,“ bedridden for months, and plagued by “extreme depression, anxiety, and fear for her own safety.”
She reports continuing symptoms, including nightmares and difficulty resuming everyday life.
She did not report the alleged crime to police, seek medical help, or tell anyone until more than a decade later, when she sent a demand letter seeking $35 million in exchange for not filing a lawsuit.
Text Messages to Alleged Rapists
In June 2012, one month after the alleged rape, Whiteman messaged Oren Alexander to wish him a happy birthday. She explained she couldn’t attend their upcoming party at Toy nightclub in Manhattan because the club had “banned” her. She did offer to send two female friends from Australia in her place. She did not explain when or why she was banned, or why, despite being raped by the brothers, she would send two female friends visiting from abroad to her rapists’ party.
In March 2013, about ten months after the alleged rape and assault, Whiteman sent Oren several nude photos and invited him to her apartment, writing that it would be “fun to get over“ a recent breakup by having sex with him. Oren did not respond.
Two days later, on March 15, she sent another message to Oren:
“I am lying in bed touching myself, my pussy feels so soft… Like velvet, it’s getting nice and wet. I am thinking of you and your nice hard cock… Wishing I could suck it and then have u thrust it inside me… So sexy baby. Omg… Want to taste ur come.”
On April 7, 2013, at 6:30 am, Whiteman messaged Alon, “goodnight,“ and suggested that the two should “go out tomorrow night and hang with the niggersz.“
In May 2013, Whiteman visited Alon’s apartment with a female friend. She posed naked with the woman on his bed, kissed her, and asked Alon to take a photo and send it to Oren.
On June 17, 2013, Whiteman texted Oren to ask him how he was enjoying his trip to Miami, and said it was just like her native city, the Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia, except there were “no Black guys.“
She also explains that “some nigga stole (her passport) because her last name is Whiteman.”
Oren did not reply
On June 28, 2013, Whiteman sent the exact text to both brothers, saying she and her friends were on their way to the Hamptons and invited them to “come have a party” at her rental. She also suggested they attend a party together at Sir Ivan’s Castle—the same place she had described in her lawsuit as the scene of her alleged assault and rape.
Days later, she messaged Oren again, asking when the twins planned to leave the Hamptons and writing,
“You almost fulfilled my #1 fantasy“ —a reference to her desire for a threesome with the brothers, which she had previously described as non-consensual rape.
In July 2013, Whiteman wished Oren a happy birthday and then sent a message at 2:55 am asking him to have dinner with her. Oren replied the next morning:
“Are you delusional?”
She responded:
“Babe half the time I’m just joking around… Can u please call me.”
In August 2013, Whiteman sent Oren a photo of herself in a dress. She also texted Alon “kisses goodnight“ with a picture of herself lying in bed, referring to him as “pretty boy” and inviting him to a day spa.
In September 2013, she asked Oren to buy her a birthday present, writing:
“I love presents!!”
She requested a pony: “I want a Palomino thoroughbred or a purebred Camarillo pony please! All white is best.”
Finally, in October 2014, she asked to borrow a necklace for Halloween, saying she was dressing up as a “Jewish Barbie.“ Alon did not reply.
Deleted Texts, $35 Million Demand, and a Decade of Silence
In July 2022, Whiteman, using a feature in Facebook that allows users to “unsend“ messages that they previously sent, attempted to erase her text messages to the Alexanders.
The brothers had previously taken screenshots to preserve them.
Whiteman, unfortunately for her, was unaware of the Alexander brothers’ preservation of her texts.
It is perhaps altogether possible that the wrong people are in custody.
Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.
