You may have heard of Jeffrey Epstein, the American financier who abused vulnerable under-age girls for decades and for the most part, got away with it until #metoo.  

You may not know the pernicious details, however.  In addition to his decades of abuse, he also “lent” women to other influential men to get in favor with them. He recorded hundreds of hours of video in his various homes, which were discovered in his safe in 2019.  Some of the footage may have been of prominent men engaged in sexual activity with underage girls, which Epstein told others he kept as an “insurance policy.”

Although Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial, his death was ruled a suicide, this story of international sex-trafficking did not end with his demise.

Who are the other men?  Will we ever know?  Will they also be charged? As one of the victims has said, the monsters are still out there.

A new documentary produced by Netflix entitled Jeffry Epstein: Filthy Rich tells all, or at least what’s known to date about how Epstein and his long-time companion Ghislaine Maxwell, allegedly lured underage women, often from disadvantaged or traumatized backgrounds, into his home and sexually abused them. This 4-part series, at long last, gives a voice to many of the survivors of Epstein’s abuse, and details their decades-long battle to find justice.

Why did they have to wait for decades to be heard? Money, power, corruption, fear.

Epstein, Vanity Fair, and a Media That Looked Away

Epstein’s abusive behavior might have come to light and been taken seriously much earlier, in 2003, when journalist Vicky Ward was assigned to write a profile piece about Epstein for Vanity Fair magazine. Ward had uncovered and included in her article allegations from two sisters who claimed to have been abused by Epstein when they were underage. 

But wealthy and well connected Epstein confronted then Editor-in-Chief, Graydon Carter, denied the sexual misconduct, and beseeched him not to print the allegations.  Ward, the author of the piece, also claimed that Epstein physically threatened her.

Vanity Fair published the profile piece minus the sisters’ story of underage sexual abuse.  The magazine later described the deletion as necessary due to its legal obligations.

There are more instances when victims’ stories were ready to be published or aired, and suddenly vanished. Again and again, the media turned a blind eye to Epstein’s sexual abuse. 

Epstein’s Secret and Illegal Plea Deal

Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich also explores the intensive 2005-2006 Palm Beach police investigation, which uncovered almost two dozen underage victims, mostly from poor areas in West Palm Beach.

The investigation was turned over to the FBI after 13 months because police officials said Palm Beach State Prosecutor, Barry Krischer, was not taking the allegations seriously. 

Why might that be? 

The FBI investigation took time, but eventually it identified 36 girls, some as young as 14, who had allegedly been sexually abused by Epstein. 

What happens next is unbelievable.

Alex Acosta, then the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida (and later Trump’s choice for Secretary of Labor) agreed to a secret plea deal, called a Federal non-prosecution agreement, that granted Epstein and all named and unnamed co-conspirators immunity from federal prosecution. 

 That plea deal put a sudden stop to the FBI investigation and further enquiries into whether other prominent people had been involved with Epstein’s sex trafficking.

As agreed upon in the plea deal, Epstein was indicted in State court on relatively minor charges in comparison to his real crimes: single counts of procuring an underage girl for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute. Under the umbrella of the secret deal, he plead guilty in 2008, and received an 18 month sentence. He actually “served” 13 months and was then released on probation.

His 13 months of “incarceration” were mostly spent in work release, which meant he spent up to 12 hours a day, 6 days a week at his personal office in West Palm Beach, not in a cell.  

When Epstein was in jail for brief periods of time, he was housed in a special, private wing of the county jail (not in a State prison as is usual for sex offenders in Florida), his cell remained unlocked, and he had access to the attorney’s room, where a television had been installed for his use.  

During his subsequent year of probation, Epstein was allowed to take trips on his corporate jet to his homes in Manhattan and the Virgin Islands, walk around Palm Beach, and enjoyed a number of other personal benefits, unlike most criminals on probation.

Why did Epstein receive such a sweetheart deal?  Acosta later said he offered such a lenient deal because he was told to “leave it alone.”

 Who told Acosta to “leave it alone?”

After his release, Epstein returned to his high life for the next decade, readily re-accepted by social, political, and business figures as though nothing of consequence had happened.  

A Decade Later: Epstein Charged with Sex Trafficking Minors

In 2018, investigative journalist Julie K. Brown wrote a series of articles for the Miami Herald on the allegations of abuse that had been made against Epstein, and the way they had been mishandled by the justice system.  The articles were entitled Perversion of Justice.  These articles sparked renewed interest by the FBI into the allegations against Epstein, turning a “cold” case back into an active investigation.

Julie K. Brown tracked down 60 women who claimed to have been abused by Epstein.  Eight agreed to be interviewed for the series, which focused more on how they had been betrayed by the justice system than on the abuse itself.

It wasn’t until February 2019, five years after the suit had been filed, that a Senior Judge in US District Court found that the secret plea deal, orchestrated by Acosta in 2007, violated the law because prosecutors had failed to notify the victims before they allowed Epstein to plead guilty to just the two offenses cited above.

That nullified the 2007 immunity deal and made it possible for Epstein to be arrested and charged in July 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York.  Because he was taken by complete surprise, he didn’t have time to “clean” his New York home of incriminating evidence, as he had during the 2006 Florida investigation.

The 2019 charges alleged that Epstein had assaulted at least 40 women, most of them underage, as young as 14 and maybe even as young as 12.  This time, with the #metoo movement at its height, his horrific behaviors were taken seriously. He faced 45 years in prison, in essence the remainder of his life.

But before the trial began, Epstein was found dead in his cell. Epstein’s death was ruled a suicide, but some question that determination. Was he silenced in some way by one or more influential men who might have been implicated?

Sexual Favors for Well Known Men

Several survivors say they were lent to other well-known men for sex, in the US and other countries.  In 2019, NY police removed thousands of photos of underage girls from Epstein's apartment along with compact discs of video recordings from a safe.  The recordings were labeled with names of victims and the men they have been lent to.  His long-term companion, Ghislaine Maxwell called these Epstein’s “insurance policy.”

Prince Andrew denies any allegations of sexual misconduct, but there is a photo of him with his arm around the waist of one of Epstein’s victims. And the technician who serviced the telecommunications on Epstein's private island says he saw Prince Andrew grinding up against this same woman at the pool. 

In his earlier years, Epstein was invited to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on a number of occasions.  One of Epstein’s victims says she was recruited into his circle of abuse at Mar-a-Lago, where she worked as a locker room attendant. You can see Epstein socializing with Trump in at least two different photos online.  

In 2002, Trump told New York magazine: 

“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.”

What did Trump mean when he used the phrase “on the younger side?”  Did he know they were most often “underage?” 

Trump distanced himself from Epstein once the 2019 sex-trafficking charges were filed. In a White House video, Trump said he had a falling out with Epstein and hadn’t spoken to him for 15 years. At the same time, he expressed empathy for his Secretary of Labor, Alex Acosta, who was suddenly under scrutiny due to the secret plea deal as though he were a victim rather than the one who illegally executed the agreement with Epstein’s attorneys.

Bill Clinton has said he has never been to Epstein's private island in the Virgin Islands.  However, two people in Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich claim to have seen him there – a victim and a worker. Flight passenger manifestos show him as having visited the island a number of times.  

The victim who was present at the time did not observe Clinton engage in illicit behavior. She said many influential people came to the island; not all of them were involved with the abuse.

So why would Clinton lie about his presence on the island?   Is his word trustworthy, knowing he’s already lied about his sexual misconduct with Monica Lewinsky?

Monsters Are Still Out There

So what about all those video recordings found in Epstein’s safe? Were they indeed of well know men engaged in sexual activity with under age women?

Sadly, this is not the story of one malicious sexual predator, bad enough as that would be.  But in addition to the malicious and sick sins of Jeffrey Epstein, a male-dominated system of government, business, high society, and the press looked the other way, while he abused underaged girls for more than two decades, perhaps longer. The survivors were further victimized and betrayed by a prosecutorial system that entered into an illegal secret agreement that favored the defendant and delayed the possibility of justice for years and years.

What will happen now?  Will the men who benefited from Epstein’s sex-trafficking continue to go free, as he did for decades?  Or will they be investigated and called to account for their sexual abuse of women, whatever their social status, wealth, or power?

There’s an ongoing FBI investigation, but the principal focus is on people who facilitated Epstein, not necessarily on the men who received sexual favors.

UPDATE:
Jeffrey Epstein Confidante Ghislaine Maxwell arrested on Sex Abuse Charges on July 2, 2020

Also, “Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has pushed aggressively for the Justice Department to investigate what was described as a sweetheart deal that gave Epstein and others immunity from federal charges in 2007.”

And, “The case also ensnared British royalty, bringing an end to the royal duties of Epstein friend Prince Andrew. Prosecutors have been seeking to speak with him for months about his friendship with the financier and the allegations of abuse.”

The documentary Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich has been criticized for not providing new information. Critics say it should have deeply investigating co-conspirators and any remaining questions. Nevertheless, I recommend it as a powerful voice for victims, a glance into the reality of the US justice system when it comes to protecting the wealthy, and a reminder that the #metoo movement is as important as ever.

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