PIG STAYS IN PEN
No bail; judge fears Epstein will strike again
worker, alone inside the office, opened the door, apparently believing a coworker was knocking, and turned his back before seeing who he was letting in.
The crazed crook rushed inside, waving a large knife, and knocked the terrified worker to the floor.
As the worker scrambled for cover, the stickup man rifled through an open safe and register drawer, grabbing handfuls of cash before storming out of the office, leaving the worker unharmed.
The robber ran out a back exit clutching a blue duffle bag he stuffed the loot in.
“We do not recognize the individual disguised as a construction worker,” a Turner Construction spokesman said.
The suspect is described as black and between 20 and 25 with a beard. He was wearing a black hooded sweater under the construction vest, blue jeans and tan boots. Jeffrey Epstein must stew in jail while awaiting trial for sex trafficking of underage girls because he might strike again if released, a judge ruled Thursday.
Manhattan Federal Judge Richard Berman rejected the multimillionaire sex offender’s request of home confinement at the Upper East Side mansion where he is accused of abusing girls between 2002 and 2005, calling the proposal “irretrievably inadequate.”
The seriousness of the charges against Epstein made bail a long shot. He faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted. Berman determined that Epstein’s release would pose a danger to others.
“Mr. Epstein’s alleged excessive attraction to sexual conduct with or in the presence of minor girls — which is said to include his soliciting and receiving massages from young girls and young women perhaps as many as four times a day — appears likely to be uncontrollable,” the judge wrote in a 33-page decision.
Epstein, wearing glasses and a blue jail uniform, did not react as the judge explained his decision.
Berman signaled his skepticism during a Monday hearing, noting that he’d recently read studies showing that sex offenders have high recidivism rates.
Perplexing explanations by Epstein’s defense team for a fake passport featuring the financier’s photo that investigators found in a safe in his mansion only highlighted the long odds for bail.
Berman cited the passport as evidence Epstein is a flight risk. His “great wealth and vast resources,” including a home in Paris, also raised the possibility he would be able to easily flee if granted bail, Berman said. Authorities also found $70,000 cash and loose diamonds in the safe.
“The defendant’s vast wealth and influential contacts have provided him with the means to pay individuals to assist him in unlawful endeavors, including potentially fleeing the jurisdiction,” the judge wrote.
As if that weren’t damning enough, Berman also noted that prosecutors say they found a trove of nude photos of girls who appear to be underage at Epstein’s mansion on E. 71st St.
Epstein added three lawyers to his defense on Wednesday, bringing the total to six. They argue that the trafficking charges are covered by a 2008 guilty plea in Florida to state prostitution charges. As part of that plea, Epstein signed a non-prosecution agreement with the feds in Florida.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman (left) says his office is not bound by that deal and that prosecutors have found new Epstein victims.
While explaining his decision on bail, Judge Berman cited the “compelling testimony” of accusers Annie Farmer and Courtney Wild, who said they feared for their safety if Epstein was released.
The shady financier is accused of luring underage girls into giving him nude massages that escalated to sexual abuse. Epstein allegedly paid his victims to become “recruiters” who would bring him additional underage victims.
Epstein once counted the likes of Bill Clinton, President Trump and Prince Andrew as friends.