Billionaire accused of molesting minors facing new charges

Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire New York financier long accused of molesting dozens of girls, was arrested Saturday and charged with sex trafficking by federal prosecutors, an extraordinary turn of events in a long and sordid criminal case. Two people with knowledge of the case said Saturday night that Epstein had been arrested in the New York area and was in federal custody.

He is expected to appear before a federal magistrate Monday, more than a decade after he gained notoriety for lurid accusations that he paid dozens of underage girls for sexual massages in Florida.

Epstein had avoided federal criminal charges in 2007 and 2008 in a widely criticized plea deal whose lenient terms still roil the Department of Justice.

Before the plea deal, Epstein, a former hedge fund manager,

had been friendly with Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, the duke of York.

He pleaded guilty to lesser state charges of soliciting prostitution, served 13 months in a county lockup and registered as a sex offender. His extraordinary jail arrangement allowed him to get out of the Palm Beach County Stockade six days a week to work out of his office.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, which brought the charges against Epstein, declined to comment Saturday night.

CBS Miami reported that Epstein was arrested Saturday at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey after he arrived by private jet from Paris. The station said Epstein was arrested under a sealed federal indictment and charged with one count of sex trafficking and one count of