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Despite its stated commitments to better protect and serve alleged victims in the wake of the Acevedo sexual assault case, eXp Realty and its parent company eXp World Holdings again find themselves in the hot seat in a sexual assault suit.
Filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in Orlando by North Carolina-based eXp agent Kristen Childress, the suit alleges that Childress was raped by Nicholas Blake Moore after attending an eXp vendor-hosted open bar networking party in May 2023, which was held in conjunction with the eXp Shareholder Summit.
Moore, a photographer, was attending the summit as a guest of eXp agent Nathan Abbott, and was not a licensed agent. According to the complaint, the party was open only to agents and the plaintiff did not know how Moore got it.
Childress and her two suitemates, Colleen Marten and Victoria Singleton, were staying at the same hotel as Abbott. Moore was staying at a different hotel in a room paid for by Abbott.
During her evening at the open bar party, Childress recalls drinking “one to two vodka cranberry cocktails over several hours while eating and socializing with colleagues.” The next thing she recalls “is being raped and strangled by Moore in his hotel room.”
Childress has no recollection of the evening, but from records has deduced that around 10 p.m., her suitemates informed her that they were returning to their hotel. According to the legal filing, Childress told them she was fine and would meet them back at the hotel.
After an hour, Childress’ suitemates began trying to reach her as she had not yet returned to the hotel. A bartender at the event eventually answered Childress’ phone but could not locate its owner.
Her suitemates returned to the bar to retrieve Childress’ phone and to look for her.
“As they approached the elevator bay to go down to the hotel lobby, the suitemates saw [her] with a man who introduced himself as Nick Moore, Abbott’s photographer for the event,” the complaint states. “Immediately, plaintiff’s suitemates noticed that something was wrong with plaintiff. She was not acting like herself. Instead, she was belligerent, slurring her words, acting erratically; she was visibly impaired.”
Her suitemates reportedly asked her to stay with them, but Childress followed Moore down the hall. According to the complaint, they immediately began looking for her at the hotel and enlisted “the help of other eXp agents, including someone in plaintiff’’s upline – her sponsor agent’s sponsor, Robin Mann.”
On a phone call later that night, Abbott told Moore that Childress never returned to the hotel, so he went down to check with the hotel manager, who informed him that they called a cab for Childress to take her back to her hotel. Shortly after this, Marten and Singleton called Abbott to let him know Childress had returned and “was not alright.”
“She apparently said she was raped based on what her friends said. I called Nick [Moore] to let him know the situation and he acted startled and said that he hasn’t seen her since he originally called her the Uber at 12:10 a.m,” Abbott’s statement read.
“Witnesses noted bruise marks on her neck and that plaintiff was in visible distress,” the complaint states. Childress was later admitted to a local hospital, where medical staff “documented significant memory loss, multiple bruises on her breast, arm, thigh, a red linear mark on her neck, and genital abrasions,” but no toxicology report was ordered.
Despite his claims to having never been in physical contact with Childress, “Moore’s DNA was detected from vaginal swabs collected from the rape kit.”
“Moore later admitted to the law enforcement he choked plaintiff during sex but claimed it was consensual,” the complaint states. “This is inconsistent with plaintiff’s statements, memory loss, post-traumatic presentation, and physical evidence.”
Childress claims that contrary to eXp’s assurances that there were company resources in place for victims of sexual assault, there were no resources for her or other women to gain resolution without having to go through the legal system.
She also claims that Abbott told people she was not raped, as Childress and as her upline sponsor Mann were looking to have Moore banned from future eXp events. Abbott claimed he was no longer working with Moore, but the complaint claims that social media posts and online photos still credited Moore as the photographer.
According to the complaint, eXp’s policies and procedures state that the firm has “zero tolerance for negative, aggressive and inappropriate behaviors.”
Childress is demanding a jury trial and asking the court to award compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief that would require “policy reform and reporting transparency at eXp.”
An eXp spokesperson sent the following statement to HousingWire regarding the allegations.
“We are deeply concerned by any report of harm and extend our compassion and support to Ms. Childress. The alleged incident occurred at a private, non-eXp-sponsored event, and the accused individual is not affiliated with eXp Realty.
“When the matter was brought to our attention, we immediately responded by offering support to the victim and by taking action to help to ensure the safety of other eXp agents. We want to be clear that eXp does not in any way condone, and had no involvement or control over, the actions of the accused individual.”
In October 2024, eXp World Holdings shareholders sued Glenn Sanford, Jason Gesing and five other board members, accusing them of mishandling the sexual assault allegations that have come to light through an expose by The New York Times and a series of lawsuits.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a statement from eXp World Holdings.
