They finally got their day in court.

The hearing Tuesday to dismiss federal sex-trafficking charges against dead pedophile Jeffrey ­Epstein looked and sounded more like a trial, with 23 women — including more than a dozen new accusers — sharing their stories of abuse at Epstein’s hands.

“I was nothing more than a teenage prostitute. I was his slave,” wrote one Epstein victim, who was a 16-year-old virgin when she says Epstein raped her.

The woman’s letter was read in court by her lawyer, Gloria Allred. “He washed my entire body in the shower and said, ‘If you are not a virgin, I will kill you,’ ” she said.

She added, “He outsmarted everyone so far. And his ghost is laughing at all of us.”

One by one, 17 of the women — including Virginia Roberts Giuffre — took the podium in Manhattan federal court to relive the nightmare abuse, while lawyers for another six read letters on their behalf.

Many were identified only as Jane Doe and have never spoken publicly before, including a woman who said she was a 16-year-old virgin when Epstein ­allegedly raped her.

Another Jane Doe said she was 15 in 2004 when she was flown to Epstein’s “Zorro Ranch” in New Mexico, where he molested her for hours.

And a third Jane Doe claimed she was recruited at a mall as a young violinist under the guise of playing for the wealthy financier.

“Jeffrey Epstein robbed me and defiled me at every chance he had,” she wrote in her letter. “The decision [to meet him] was the end of my childhood.”

The women who spoke expressed a collective feeling of anger and torment over Epstein’s suicide by hanging on Aug. 10 — knowing that the justice they seek will never come because prosecutors can’t try a dead man.

“I am still mad, concerned and confused about how he committed suicide and escaped responsibility once again,” one woman said, referring to the wrist-slap plea deal he copped in Florida in 2008 that let him dodge federal charges — and continue preying on victims.

Accuser Courtney Wild slammed Epstein for robbing her and others of the chance to finally face him in court.

“For that he is coward . . . I feel very angry, sad,” she said. “Justice has never been served in this case.”

Others said they were relieved that the 66-year-old creep was no longer alive.

Manhattan federal Judge Richard Berman invited the accusers and their lawyers to speak in court in light of a motion by prosecutors to formally dismiss the charges against Epstein.

But the judge did not rule on the motion.

One legal expert said Berman’s invitation was “unusual.”

“It’s a nice opportunity for the victims to get some catharsis to tell their story in the public eye,” said Dominique Penson, a New York lawyer who has handled hundreds of cases for sexual-abuse victims. “He wants to give these victims a voice.”

Epstein killed himself one day after more than 2,000 documents accusing him and others, including gal pal Ghislaine Maxwell, of sexual abuse were unsealed as part of a since-settled civil lawsuit filed by Giuffre.

Federal prosecutors again vowed to continue their investigation into Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking ring and his co-conspirators.

Penson said the dismissal of the case “in no way prohibits” the government from charging others in the future or filing a civil forfeiture against Epstein’s $577 million estate.

Berman, meanwhile, called the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death a “rather stunning turn of events” and said he wanted to ensure “that the victims in the case are treated fairly and with dignity.”

Lawyers for the late hedge-fund manager called for the judge to investigate Epstein’s suicide — questioning the ruling by the city medical examiner that he hanged himself.

“We are not here without significant doubts,” defense attorney Martin Weinberg told Berman. “We want to know deeply what happened to our client.”

The request for Berman to intervene was joined by Allred.

“The court is a neutral party,” she said in court. “Clearly the system has failed. Failed the victims, failed the court, failed everyone.”