Taryn Terrell has joined a lawsuit against the Miami Biltmore, alleging that she was sexually abused while staying at the hotel by Biltmore massage therapist Oscar Ojeda. Terrell indicated she joined the lawsuit due to allegations against Ojeda, who has been accused by three other women, as it continues to grow.
“I think the fact that this continued to happen is just gut-wrenching,” Terrell said in an interview with NBC Miami. “I may be a wrestler, I may be a stunt woman, I may be all of those things. But at the end of the day, I am a human and I deserve the same respect and decency that every other human deserves, and when someone invades your intimate private space, it’s not OK.”
Terrell and her husband had stayed at the Biltmore in August of 2020 for a weekend getaway. Terrell went to receive a massage from Ojeda, when she says the assault took place.
“I froze in fear,” Terrell recalled. “I wish I was one of those people who said I stood up and I said ‘this is not OK’ but I was terrified. In the moment that everything happened I was so mad at myself that I couldn’t even say to him to stop doing what he was doing.”
The Biltmore has previously claimed they were unaware of the allegations against Ojeda and fired him upon learning of the allegations. Terrell and the other women in the lawsuit claim they brought their accusations to the Biltmore, and nothing was done. Instead, she was offered a free massage.
“I used my voice afterwards because I didn’t want it to happen to anybody else,” Terrell stated. “And it did and it happened and I feel so sick to my stomach. They didn’t make me feel like going to the police was a thing.”
Terrell and the other complainants are represented by Adriana Alcalde and Eric Baum. Ojeda, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, is due back in court in December.
