In recent days, after years of living freely, financier Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for the sex trafficking of dozens of young girls. Federal prosecutors have now unveiled their charges against him, bluntly alleging that he developed “a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit.” According to the indictment, he allegedly maintained this scheme through tasking some of his victims with finding more, which he paid them for. He was also assisted in his trafficking by at least a handful of his employees. Epstein has already been in court over this case about a decade ago, but at the time, local U.S. Attorney turned Trump administration Labor Secretary Alex Acosta got Epstein a plea deal that included barely a year in jail in exchange for pleading guilty to state charges of prostitution.
If convicted, Epstein could be sentenced to up to 45 years in jail. Prosecutors have already proven direct, reportedly breaking down the door of his Manhattan residence just this past weekend to execute a search warrant, at which time they found stashes of material suggesting he was still engaging in the same behavior as before. Prosecutors want that residence forfeited as part of Epstein’s case.
Attorney David Boies, who represents two of Epstein’s victims, shared:
‘It’s been a long time coming — it’s been too long coming. It is an important step towards getting justice for the many victims of Mr. Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise.’
Epstein has been known for some time as well-connected in the world of U.S. politics, and there is one allegation that has circulated that President Donald Trump himself participated in Epstein’s trafficking scheme at one point and raped a minor. In 2002, Trump very suspiciously told New York Magazine while the trafficking went on that Epstein is facing federal charges for that:
‘I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years — terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.’
In hindsight, knowing what we know now, it’s difficult at best to read that and not think that at the absolute least, Trump was aware of some of Epstein’s behavior. Considering the fact that he sounded no alarm whatsoever, the case only becomes more suspicious.
Besides Trump, the Epstein case has brought in the high-profile conservative figure Alan Dershowitz, who at one point in the years-long debacle served as Epstein’s lawyer. At least two of Epstein’s victims claim that he also participated in Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme, but the lawyer denies this.
Besides the new federal case based on three new victims and focusing on the years 2002 through 2005, Epstein is also facing his past Florida case in which Acosta helped him get off the hook coming back into the spotlight. A judge has ruled that the deal Acosta struck with Epstein violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act because the victims were kept in the dark about it at the time. The next step in that case remains to be seen — the plea deal could be thrown out and Epstein could face more federal charges there, and files in the case could be made public.
Featured Image via screenshot
