Financier faces new sex trafficking charge
Billionaire is on offender list since Florida case
Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire financier, philanthropist and registered sex offender who eluded lengthy prison time in the past, was charged with sex trafficking involving girls as young as 14 in a federal indictment unsealed Monday. He has pleaded not guilty.
Epstein “sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes” in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, along with other locations, the indictment says. Epstein also paid some of his victims to recruit more underage victims, according to the indictment.
The charges – one count of sex trafficking and one count of sex trafficking conspiracy – stem from accusations dating to 2002-05. Epstein was scheduled to make his first court appearance later Monday.
“This conduct, as alleged, went on for years,” Geoffrey Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a news conference. “The alleged behavior shocks the conscience.”
Berman said convictions could result in up to 45 years in jail and that his office will ask a judge to keep Epstein in custody until trial.
“When you have two planes and spend much of the year abroad, we think that is a significant risk” of flight to avoid prosecution, Berman said.
Epstein, 66, rose to prominence almost two decades ago and at various times could list Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey and Great Britain’s Prince Andrew among friends and associates. He was arrested Saturday and jailed after his private jet arrived from France.
The charges come 11 years after Epstein avoided what could have been a long term in prison when he pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting and procuring a person under 18 for prostitution.
Under a non-prosecution agreement with federal authorities in Florida, Epstein served a 13-month sentence but was allowed to spend much of it in work release at his Palm Beach office. He also settled with dozens of victims and was required to register as a sex offender.
The new indictment claims Epstein “incentivized his victims” by paying them hundreds of dollars for each girl they recruited. Encounters with his victims would begin with a “massage,” before Epstein would “escalate the nature and scope of physical contact with his victim.”
Berman said a search of Epstein’s Manhattan mansion after his arrest turned up nude photos of what appeared to be underage girls. Prosecutors seek forfeiture of his Manhattan mansion.
Last week, a federal appeals judge ruled that some sealed court records that accused Epstein and others of participating in an underage sex trafficking ring must be made public.
Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz