Model Carré Otis Says U.S. Court of Appeals ‘Overturned’ Dismissal of Her Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against Former Modeling Execs

Model Carré Otis reveals that she had a recent victory in court.

Otis, whose real name is Carré Sutton, shared an update to Instagram about her ongoing sex abuse lawsuit against former Elite Model Management executives Gérald Marie and Trudi Tapscott on Monday, Nov. 4.

“Today, the United States Court of Appeals overturned the dismissal of my case against my abuser, ruling that the New York State Child Victims Act can apply to abuse that happened elsewhere,” Otis, 56, wrote alongside a black-and-white throwback modeling photo. 

“This is a huge win not only in my individual pursuit of justice, but for all survivors. I am hugely grateful to every person who supported me along the way,” she added.

She further explained that New York’s Child Victims Act and the Adult Survivors Act has “allowed” her and others to “attempt to hold our abusers accountable for the harm they have caused,” and urged New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign into law the Fashion Worker’s Act to “prevent this abuse from happening in the first place.”

“The rampant sexual abuse of young people in the fashion industry has gone largely unchecked for decades, and models continue to work without basic labor protections,” she wrote. “As the fashion capital of the U.S., New York must continue to lead on workers’ and survivors’ rights by making this essential bill law.”

Elite Model Management did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the lawsuit. PEOPLE was unable to locate a contact for Marie and Tapscott.

According to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which decided on the dismissal on Monday, Otis "alleges that in 1986, shortly after she moved to New York City to work as a child model for Elite Models Management, Tapscott, an Elite executive, sent her to Paris to live with another Elite executive, Marie, who allegedly raped her."

The model, who had been scouted by the modeling agency when she was 16-years-old, claimed in her lawsuit that Tapscott approved a plan to send Otis (who was 17 years old at the time) to live with Marie, who has been accused of sexual assault by several models, according to The Guardian. 

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Otis said that Tapscott failed to disclose that she “was sending her to live at the home of a sex offender,” per NBC News, citing the lawsuit. She also claimed that Elite Model Management co-founder John Casablancas, who died in 2013, greenlit the plan. 

The outlet reported that while living with Marie in Paris, Otis initially believed that it would be beneficial for her career. However, she alleged that instead, she was raped by Marie and trafficked to “other wealthy men around Europe,” per the complaint. 

The lawsuit also claimed that she was “never paid for her modeling work,” NBC News, which also reported that after she started rejecting Marie's sexual advances when she turned 18, she was allegedly “kicked out of his apartment shortly after.”

Following the incident, Otis moved to a different agency, where she was able to grow her career.