Woman accusing Donald Trump of child-rape cancels press conference after receiving death threats

A woman who has accused Donald Trump of raping her as a child cancelled a press conference on Wednesday (2 November) after allegedly receiving death threats.

The woman, known by the pseudonym Jane Doe, has sued Trump for allegedly raping her in a series of sex parties when she was 13 years old.

Doe reportedly hid from the media who were invited to her attorney's office in Los Angeles for a press conference. Lisa Bloom, the woman's attorney, instead cancelled the event in a short statement in front of a row of cameras, The Guardian reported.

"Jane Doe has received numerous threats today as have all the Trump accusers that I have represented," Bloom told reporters. "She has decided she is too afraid to show her face. She has been here all day, ready to do it, but unfortunately she is in terrible fear. We're going to have to reschedule. I apologise to all of you who came. I have nothing further."

According to The Guardian, Bloom's earlier press conference announcement caused such high anticipation that her firm's website crashed.

Doe claims the Republican presidential candidate assaulted her on four occasions at parties hosted by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in New York. Epstein, a friend of Trump's, is also accused of raping Doe.

The Guardian reported that a federal lawsuit claims Trump sexually assaulted Doe in 1994 at Epstein's Manhattan home and other parties held in the Upper East Side. Epstein, who has vehemently denied the accusations, was convicted of underage sex crimes in Florida in 2008.

Doe filed a lawsuit in April, but it was dismissed for technical filing errors. Doe filed new lawsuits in New York and California in June. An initial status hearing in a New York district court for one of the civil lawsuits is set for 16 December.

Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations, saying they are lies made to smear his character ahead of the presidential election on 8 November. In a statement earlier this year, he called the accusations "not only categorically false, but disgusting at the highest level and clearly framed to solicit media attention or, perhaps, are simply politically motivated. There is absolutely no merit to these allegations, period."

The GOP nominee also faces allegations of sexual misconduct from nearly a dozen women. He has denied those accusations as well, saying that no one has more respect than he does.