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Epstein craved big homes elite friends and underage girls By Andrew Posted Jul at AM From the archives When Palm Beach detectives started asking questions and teenage girls started talking a wave of legal resistance followed Editors Note This article appeared in The Palm Beach Post on August three weeks after Jeffrey Epsteins arrest in Palm Beach County on a charge of felony solicitation of prostitution WINGED GARGOYLES guarded the gate at Jeffrey Epsteins Palm Beach mansion Inside hidden cameras trolled two rooms while the girls came and went For the police detectives who sifted through the garbage outside and kept records of visitors it was the lair of a troubling target Epstein one of the most mysterious of the countrys mega-rich was known as much for his secrecy as for his love of fine things magnificent homes private jets beautiful women friendships with the worlds elite But at Palm Beach police headquarters he was becoming known for something else the regular arrival of teenage girls he hired to give him massages and police say perform sexual favors Epstein was different from most sexual abuse suspects he was far more powerful He counted among his friends former President Bill Clinton Donald Trump and Prince Andrew along with some of the most prominent legal scientific and business minds in the country When detectives started asking questions and teenage girls started talking a wave of legal resistance followed NEW Jeffrey Epstein Lawyer said financier had sex with woman during work release If Palm Beach police didnt know quite who Jeffrey Epstein was they found out soon enough Epstein now was a quintessential man of mystery He amassed his fortune and friends quietly always in the background as he navigated New York high society When he first attracted notice in the early it was on account of the woman he was dating Ghislaine Maxwell daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert Maxwell In a lengthy article headlined The Mystery of Ghislaine Maxwells Secret Love the British Mail on Sunday tabloid laid out speculative stories that the socialites beau was a CIA spook a math teacher a concert pianist or a corporate headhunter But what is the truth about him the newspaper wondered Like Maxwell Epstein is both flamboyant and intensely private The media frenzy did not begin in full until a decade later In September Epstein was flung into the limelight when he flew Clinton and actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker to Africa on his private jet Suddenly everyone wanted to know who Epstein was New York magazine and Vanity Fair published lengthy profiles The New York Post listed him as one of the citys most eligible bachelors and began describing him in its gossip columns with adjectives such as mysterious and reclusive Although Epstein gave no interviews the broad strokes of his past started to come into focus Building a life of extravagance He was born blue-collar in the son of a New York City parks department employee and raised in Brooklyns Coney Island neighborhood He left college without a bachelors degree but became a math teacher at the prestigious Dalton School in Manhattan The story goes that the father of one of Epsteins students was so impressed with the man that he put him in touch with a senior partner at Bear Stearns the global investment bank and securities firm In Epstein left Dalton for a job at Bear Stearns By the early he had started Epstein and Co That is when he began making his millions in earnest Little is known or said about Epsteins business except this He manages money for the extremely wealthy He is said to handle accounts only of billion or greater It has been estimated he has roughly clients but their identities are the subject of only speculation All except for one Leslie Wexner founder of The Limited retail chain and a former Palm Beacher who is said to have been a mentor to Epstein exner sold Epstein one of his most lavish residences a massive townhouse that dominates a block on Manhattans Upper East Side It is reported to have among its finer features closed circuit television and a heated sidewalk to melt away fallen snow That townhouse thought to be the largest private residence in Manhattan is only a piece of the extravagant world Epstein built over time In New Mexico he constructed a 27,0-square-foot hilltop mansion on a ranch outside Santa Fe Many believed it to be the largest home in the state In Palm Beach he bought a waterfront home on El Brillo Way And he owns a 100-acre private island in the Virgin Islands PHOTOS The players in the Jeffrey Epstein saga Perhaps as remarkable as his lavish homes is his extensive network of friends and associates at the highest echelons of power This includes not only socialites but also business tycoons media moguls politicians royalty and Nobel Prize-winning scientists whose research he often funds Just like other people collect art he collects scientists said Martin Nowak who directs the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University and was reportedly the recipient of a million research donation from Epstein Epstein is said to have befriended former Harvard President Larry Summers prominent law Professor Alan Dershowitz Donald Trump and New York Daily News Publisher Mort Zuckerman And yet he managed for decades to maintain a low profile He avoids eating out and was rarely photographed The odd thing is I never met him said Dominick Dunne the famous chronicler of the trials and tribulations of the very rich I wasnt even aware of him except for a Vanity Fair article Epsteins friendship with Clinton has attracted the most attention Epstein met Clinton as early as when he paid tens of thousands of dollars to join him at an intimate fund-raising dinner in Palm Beach But from all appearances they did not become close friends until after Clinton left the Oval Office and moved to New York Epstein has donated more than to Democratic candidates campaigns including John Kerrys presidential bid the reelection campaign of New Mexico Gov Bill Richardson and the Senate bids of Joe Lieberman Hillary Rodham Clinton Christopher Dodd and Charles Schumer Powerful friends and enemies A Vanity Fair profile found cracks in the veneer of Epsteins life story The article said he left Bear Stearns in the wake of a federal probe and a possible Securities and Exchange Commission violation It also pointed out that Citibank once sued him for defaulting on a million loan The article suggested that one of his business mentors and previous employers was Steven Hoffenberg now serving a prison term after bilking investors out of more than million in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in American history As he amassed his wealth Epstein made enemies in disputes both large and small He sued the man who in sold him his multimillion-dollar Palm Beach home over a dispute about less than in furnishings A former friend claimed Epstein backed out of a promise to reimburse him hundreds of thousands of dollars after their failed investment in Texas oil wells A judge decided Epstein owed him nothing Jeffrey Epstein Model prisoner who swept mopped floors official says ll ll Its a bad memory I would rather not have ever met Jeffrey Epstein said Michael Stroll the retired former president of Williams Electronics and Sega Corp Suffice it to say I have nothing good to say about him Among the characteristics most attributed to Epstein is a penchant for women He has been linked to Maxwell a fixture on the high-society party circuits in both New York and London Previous girlfriends are said to include a former Ms Sweden and a Romanian model Hes a lot of fun to be with Donald Trump told New York magazine in 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 Investigation leads to Epstein Although he was not a frequenter of the Palm Beach social scene he made his presence felt Among his charitable donations he gave to the Palm Beach Police Department and to Ballet Florida In Palm Beach he lived in luxury Three black Mercedes sat in his garage alongside a green Harley-Davidson His jet waited at a hangar at Palm Beach International Airport At home a private chef and a small staff stood at the ready From a window in his mansion he could look out on the Intracoastal Waterway and the West Palm Beach skyline He seemed to be a man who had everything But extraordinary wealth can fuel extraordinary desires Epstein wants to leave jail for mansion in sex-trafficking case In March a worried mother contacted Palm Beach police She said another parent had overheard a conversation between their children Now the mother was afraid her 14-year-old daughter had been molested by a man on the island The phone call triggered an extensive investigation one that would lead detectives to Epstein but leave them frustrated Palm Beach police and the state attorneys office have declined to discuss the case But a Palm Beach police report detailing the criminal probe offers a window into what detectives faced as they sought to close in on Epstein Detectives interviewed the girl who told them a friend had invited her to a rich mans house to perform a massage She said the friend told her to say she was if asked At the house she said she was paid after stripping to her panties and massaging the man while he masturbated Police interview alleged victims The investigation began in full after the girl identified Epstein in a photo as the man who had paid her Police arranged for garbage trucks to set aside Epsteins trash so police could sift through it They set up a video camera to record the comings and goings at his home They monitored an airport hangar for signs of his private jets arrivals and departures They quickly learned that the woman who took the 14-year-old girl to Epsteins house was Haley Robson a Palm Beach Community College student from Loxahatchee In a sworn statement at police headquarters Robson then admitted she had taken at least six girls to visit Epstein all between the ages of and Epstein paid her for each visit she said During the drive back to her house Robson told detectives Tm like a Heidi Fleiss Police interviewed five alleged victims and witnesses Their report shows some of the girls said they had been instructed to have sex with another woman in front of Epstein and one said she had direct intercourse with him In October police searched the Palm Beach mansion They discovered photos of naked young looking females just as several of the girls had described in interviews Hidden cameras were found in the garage area and inside a clock on Epsteins desk alongside a girls high school transcript Two of Epsteins former employees told investigators that young-looking girls showed up to perform massages two or three times a day when Epstein was in town They said the girls were permitted many indulgences A chef cooked for them Workers gave them rides and handed out hundreds of dollars at a time One employee told detectives he was told to send a dozen roses to one teenage girl after a high school drama performance Others were given rental cars One according to police received a Christmas bonus The cops moved to cement their case But as they tried to tighten the noose they encountered other forces at work In Orlando they interviewed a possible victim who told them nothing inappropriate had happened between her and Epstein They asked her whether she had spoken to anyone else She said yes a private investigator had asked her the same questions Jeffrey Epstein Acosta Krischer trade barbs over sweetheart deal When they subpoenaed one of Epsteins former employees he told them the same thing He and a private eye had met at a restaurant days earlier to go over what the man would tell investigators Detectives received complaints that private eyes were posing as police officers When they told Epsteins local attorney Guy Fronstin he said the investigators worked for Roy Black the high-powered Miami lawyer who has defended the likes of Rush Limbaugh and William Kennedy Smith While the private eyes were conducting a parallel investigation Dershowitz the Harvard law professor traveled to West Palm Beach with information about the girls From their own profiles on the popular Web site MySpace.com he obtained copies of their discussions about their use of alcohol and marijuana He took his research to a meeting with prosecutors in early where he sought to cast doubt on the teens reliability The private eyes had dug up enough dirt on the girls to make prosecutors skeptical Not only did some of the girls have issues with drugs or alcohol but also some had criminal records and other troubles Epsteins legal team claimed And at least one of them they said lied when she told police she was younger than when she started performing massages for Epstein After the meeting prosecutors postponed their decision to take the case to a grand jury In the following weeksi police received complaints that two of the victims or their families had been harassed or threatened Epsteins legal team maintains that its private investigators did nothing illegal or unethical during their research By theni relations between police and prosecutors were fraying At a key meeting with prosecutors and the defensei Detective Joseph Recarey the lead investigator was a no-showi according to Epsteins attorney The embarrassment on the prosecutors face was evident when the police officer never showed up for the meeting attorney Jack Goldberger said Later in Aprili Recarey walked into a prosecutors office at the state attorneys office and learned the case was taking an unexpected turn The prosecutori Lanna Belohlaveki told Recarey the state attorneys office had offered Epstein a plea deal that would not require him to serve jail time or receive a felony conviction Recarey told her he disapproved of the plea offer The deal never came to passi however Future unclear after charge On May i the department asked prosecutors to approve warrants to arrest Epstein on four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and to charge his personal assistanti Sarah Kellen now for her alleged role in arranging the visits Police officials also wanted to charge Robsoni the self-described Heidi Pleiss with lewd and lascivious acts By theni the department was frustrated with the way the state attorneys office had handled the case On the same day the warrants were requested Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter wrote a letter to State Attorney Barry Krischer suggesting he disqualify himself from the case if he would not act Two weeks lateri Recarey was told that prosecutors had decided once again to take the case to the grand jury It is not known how many of the girls testified before the grand jury But Epsteins defense team said one girl who was subpoenaed the one who said she had sexual intercourse with Epstein never showed up The grand jurys indictment was handed down in July It was not the one the police department had wanted Instead of being slapped with a charge of unlawful sexual activity with a minor Epstein was charged with one count of felony solicitation of prostitution which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison He was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail early July and released hours later Epsteins legal team doesnt dispute that he had girls over for massages Goldberger said But he said their claims that they had sexual encounters with him lack credibility They are incapable of being believed he said They had criminal records They had accusations of theft made against them by their employers There was evidence of drug use by some of them What remains for Epstein is yet to be seen The Palm Beach Police Department has asked the FBI to investigate the case It also has returned the Epstein donated in In New York candidates for governor and state attorney general have vowed to return a total of at least in campaign contributions from Epstein Meanwhile Epsteins powerful friends have remained silent as tabloids and Internet blogs feast on tl public details of the police investigation Goldberger maintains Epsteins innocence but says the legal team has not ruled out a future plea deal He insists Epstein will emerge in the end with his reputation untarnished He will recover from this he said Staff writer Larry Keller and staff researchers Bridget Bulger Angelica Cortez Amy Hanaway and Melanie Mena contributed to this story amarra pbpost.com AMarraPBPost LEARN MORE I Tuesday November Edition FINAL Section A SECTION Page lA Source By PAUL OWERS Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Illustration PHOTO MAP Memo Ran all editions Dateline WEST PALM BEACH TRUMP SNAGS GOSMAN ESTATE FOR MILLION When it came time to bid Monday for the palatial Palm Beach digs of Abe Gosman The Donald was not about to be trumped Nobody was going to outbid me the brash developer-turned-TV-personality said from his New York office Trump bested two other bidders with a million offer for the 43,0-square-foot seven-bedroom estate on oceanfront acres along the storied Raiders Row But Trump proud possessor of Mar-a-Lago has no plans to live in the Gosman home at County Road He wants to what else sell it and make more money The star of the mega-hit The Apprentice said he intends to redevelop the site into a super luxury house that would be the finest anywhere in the United States He might build another house before flipping the entire package Ive known about this house for quite some time Trump said Its probably the best piece of land in Florida and probably the country for luxury real estate Although Trump said he could subdivide the property into nine lots Palm Beach Mayor Lesly Smith said zoning regulations allow for only two houses and maybe a third Smith said shes not worried about Trumps plans Hes been a very good property owner in the town of Palm Beach she said He does his projects very well Hes a perfectionist Mondays auction took place at U.S Bankruptcy Court in West Palm Beach as part of Gosmans Chapter bankruptcy case Proceeds from the sale will go into escrow for eventual distribution to creditors The auction began at exactly noon after Judge Steven Friedman dismissed an objection from an attorney representing money manager Jeffrey Epstein The lawyer argued unsuccessfully that Trump was not a qualified bidder because his contract stipulated that he would not close on the sale unless title insurance was in place beforehand With Trump listening via conference call Epstein began the bidding at million higher than Trumps initial offer Mark Pulte son of the founder of home-building giant Pulte Homes passed when his turn came letting lawyers for Trump and Esptein bid against each other until the price hit million Pulte then bid million briefly raising the ire of Trump who believed that Pulte had given up his right to bid by passing the first time But Friedman allowed the offer to stand and Pulte and Trump went back and forth until Pulte dropped out at million Epstein a part-time Palm Beach resident bowed out at million Friedman closed the bidding minutes after it started leaving Trump with the right to buy the 29,0-square-foot home a typical Palm Beach County single-family house is about square feet The property also has a tennis house a pool house and service quarters The closing could take place within a week but probably wont happen until next month Trustee Joe Luzinski and creditors said they were pleased with the outcome We knew we were dealing with some substantial people who were going to bid it up a bit Luzinski said The system worked said Charles Tatelbaum a lawyer for creditor JPMorgan Chase Bank In bankruptcy court the idea is to get the most for creditors and thats what happened The auction proved to be a bonanza for creditors Luzinski said noting that the highest offer former listing agent Sothebys International Realty received was million Sothebys wont receive a commission he said Pulte of Boca Raton said he figured Trump wouldnt back down Monday I got the feeling he was willing to go a lot higher and I didnt want to chase it Pulte said Pulte said Gosman asked him before the auction whether he would be willing to let him stay in the mansion after the closing until he decides where he wants to move Trump and Luzinski said they have had no such discussions with Gosman Gosman had the house built after paying million for the land in The former health-care magnate declined interview requests before and after the auction Monday He was at the courthouse but left before the auction took place The million price tag eclipses the million sale of Lowell Bud Paxsons Palm Beach home and guest house but falls short of the million that Virginia home builder Dwight Schar paid for Ron Perelmans 26,0-square-foot estate Casa Apava a designated landmark Schar also paid million for a lakefront lot across the street from the main house for a total of million Insiders say Schar spent a total of million for his new property making it the priciest residential sale in U.S history Gosman once had a fortune that Forbes magazine estimated at million He voluntarily filed for Chapter bankruptcy protection in listing assets of million and liabilities of million When a judge ruled that Gosman had to give up all of his exempt assets to creditors if he wanted to reorganize under Chapter Gosman converted the case to Chapter liquidation Last year U.S Bankruptcy Judge Larry Lessen ruled that Abe and Lin Gosmans marriage is invalid because Florida law does not recognize a Dominican Republic divorce that Lin Gosman tried to obtain from another man Michael Castre The judges decision was a huge victory for creditors because it prevents Abe Gosman from protecting assets by claiming joint ownership with his wife Gosmans assets which include an extensive collection of artwork could total as much as million and will be sold later Without Lessens ruling Luzinski would have had a much harder time selling Gosmans estate said David Cimo special counsel for the trustee We would have been thwarted or at least substantially impaired Cimo said The trustee alleged during a weeklong trial in May that Gosman fraudulently gave his wife an ownership interest in his home and other belongings only to avoid losing them in bankruptcy Gosman has denied any wrongdoing saying he made the property transfers in well before he filed for bankruptcy Lessen is expected to rule in the next two months whether Gosman made improper transfers a decision that will affect how much money will be available to creditors Cimo acknowledged that Monday wasnt the best of days for the Gosmans but said they were willing to move forward in part because the upkeep of the estate now exceeds their means This is not a happy occasion for them but at least were moving to the next level Cimo said Thats not a house you want to live in unless youre making large amounts of money like Donald Trump paul_ owers pbpost.com Indictment Billionaire Solicited Times News The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach FL The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE Indictment Billionaire Solicited Times Posted Jul at AM Updated Oct at PM EDITORS NOTE This story originally published in The Palm Beach Post on July Billionaire money manager and Palm Beach part-time resident Jeffrey Epstein solicited or procured prostitutes three or more times between Aug and Oct oflast year according to an indictment charging him with felony solicitation of prostitution Epstein was booked at the Palm Beach County jail at a.m Sunday He was released on bond Epsteins case is unusual in that suspected prostitution johns are usually charged with a misdemeanor and even a felony charge is typically made in a criminal information an alternative to an indictment charging a person with the commission of a crime His attorney,Jack Goldberger declined to discuss the charge State attorneys office spokesman Mike Edmondson also had little to say Generally speaking there is a case that has a number of different aspects to it Edmondson said of a prostitution-related charge being submitted to a grand jury We first became aware of the case months ago by Palm Beach police Prosecutors and police worked together to bring the case to the grand jury he said https://w pa lmbeachpost.com/news/20080701 ind ictment-bil liona ire-solicited-3-times Indictment Billionaire Solicited Times News The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach FL Palm Beach police confirmed that and said the department will release a report today regarding its investigation Epstein has owned a five-bedroom 1/2-bath 7,234-square-foot home with a pool and a boat dock on the Intracoastal Waterway since according to property records A man answering the door there Monday said that Epstein wasnt home A Cadillac Escalade registered to him was parked in the driveway which is flanked by two massive gargoyles Epstein sued Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits in contending that the assessment of his home exceeded its fair market value He dismissed his lawsuit in December A profile of Epstein in Vanity Fair magazine said he owns what are believed to be the largest private homes in Manhattan square feet and in New Mexico a ranch Those are in addition to his 70-acre island in the U.S Virgin Islands and fleet of aircraft Epsteins friends and admirers according to the magazine include prominent businessmen academics and scientists and famed Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz larry _keller pbpost.com https pa lmbeachpost.com/news/20080701 ind ictme nt-bil lionaire-sol icited-3-times After long probe billionaire faces solicitation charge News The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach FL The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE After Io be i ion air faces so Ii it at i charge Posted Jul at AM Updated Oct at PM EDITORS NOTE This story originally published in The Palm Beadi Post on July Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein paid to have underage girls and young women brought to his home where he received massages and sometimes sex according to an investigation by the Palm Beach Police Department Palm Beach police spent months sifting through Epsteins trash and watching his waterfront home and Palm Beach International Airport to keep tabs on his private jet An indictment charging Epstein was unsealed Monday charging him with one count of felony solicitation of prostitution Palm Beach police thought there was probable cause to charge Epstein with unlawful sex acts with a minor and lewd and lascivious molestation Police Chief Michael Reiter was so angry with State Attorney Barry Krischer handling of the case that he wrote a memo suggesting the countys top prosecutor disqualify himself I must urge you to examine the unusual course that your offices handling of this matter has taken and consider if good and sufficient reason exists to require your disqualification from the prosecution of these cases Reiter wrote in a May memo to Krischer While not commenting specifically on the Epstein case Mike Edmondson spokesman for the state attorney said his office presents cases other than murders to a grand jury when there are questions about witnesses credibility and their ability to testify faces-solicitation-charge After long probe billionaire faces solicitation charge News The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach FL By the nature of their jobs police officers look at evidence from a one-sided perspective Edmondson said A prosecutor has to look at it in a much broader fashion weighing the veracity of witnesses and how they may fare under defense attorneys questioning he said Epsteins attorney Jack Goldberger said his client committed no crimes The reports and statements in question refer to false accusations that were not charged because the Palm Beach County state attorney questioned the credibility of the witnesses Goldberger said A county grand jury found the allegations wholly unsubstantiated and not credible and thats why his client was not charged with sexual activity with minors he said Goldberger said Epstein passed a lie detector test administered by a reputable polygraph examiner in which he said he did not know the girls were minors Also a search warrant served on Epsteins home found no evidence to corroborate the girls allegations Goldberger said According to police documents A Palm Beach Community College student said she gave Epstein a massage in the nude then brought him six girls ages to for massage and sex-tinged sessions at his home A 27-year-old woman who worked as Epsteins personal assistant also facilitated the liaisons phoning the PBCC student to arrange for girls when Epstein was coming to town And she escorted the girls upstairs when they arrived putting fresh sheets on a massage table and placing massage oils nearby Police took sworn statements from five alleged victims and witnesses They contend that on three occasions Epstein had sex with the girls A money manager for the ultra-rich Epstein was named one of New Yorks most eligible bachelors in by The New York Post He reportedly hobnobs with the likes of former President Clinton former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers and Donald Trump and has lavish homes in Manhattan New Mexico and the Virgin Islands faces-solicitation-charge After long probe billionaire faces solicitation charge News The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach FL He has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic Party candidates and organizations including Sen John Kerrys presidential bid and the Senate campaigns of Joe Lieberman Hillary Clinton Christopher Dodd and Charles Schumer Goldberger is one of five attorneys Epstein has retained since he became the subject of an investigation Edmondson said Among the others Alan Dershowitz the well-known Harvard law professor and author who is a friend of Epstein Dershowitz could not be reached for comment Police said the woman who enlisted young girls for Epstein was Haley Robson of Royal Palm Beach Robson has worked at an Olive Garden restaurant in Wellington and said she was a journalism major at Palm Beach Community College when she was questioned by police last October She has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment Robson said she met Epstein when at age a friend asked her if she would like to make money giving him a massage She said she was driven to his five bedroom 1/2-bath home on the Intracoastal Waterway then escorted upstairs to a bedroom with a massage table and oils Epstein and Robson were both naked during the massage she said but when he grabbed her buttocks she said she didnt want to be touched faces-solicitation-charge After long probe billionaire faces solicitation charge News The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach FL Epstein said hed pay her to bring him more girls the younger the better Robson told police When she tried once to bring a 23-year-old woman to him Epstein said she was too old Robson said Robson who has not been charged in the case said she eventually brought six girls to Epstein who were paid each time Robson said Tm like a Heidi Pleiss police quoted her as saying The girls knew what to expect when they were taken to Epsteins home Robson said Give a massage maybe naked and allow some touching One 14-year-old girl Robson took to meet Epstein led police to start the investigation of him in March A relative of the girl called to say she thought the child had recently engaged in sex with a Palm Beach man The girl then got into a fight with a classmate who accused her of being a prostitute and she couldnt explain why she had in her purse The girl gave police this account of her meeting with Epstein She accompanied Robson and a second girl to Epsteins house on a Sunday in February Once there a woman she thought was Epsteins assistant told the girl to follow her upstairs to a room featuring a mural of a naked woman several photographs of naked women on a shelf a hot pink and green sofa and a massage table She stripped to her bra and panties and gave him a massage Epstein gave the 14-year-old and she and the other girls left she said She said Robson told her that Epstein paid her that day Other girls told similar stories In most accounts Epstein personal assistant at the time Sarah Kellen now escorted the girls to Epsteins bedroom Kellen whose most recent known address is in North Carolina has not been charged in the case Palm Beach police often conducted surveillance of Epsteins home and at Palm Beach International Airport to see if his private jet was there so they would know when he was in town Police also arranged repeatedly to receive his trash https faces-solicitation-charge After long probe billionaire faces solicitation charge News The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach FL from Palm Beach sanitation workers collecting papers with names and phone numbers sex toys and female hygiene products One note stated that a female could not come over at p.m because of soccer Another said a girl had to work Sunday Monday after school And still another note contained the work hours of a girl saying she leaves school at a.m and would come over the next day at a.m Only three months before the police department probe began Epstein donated to the department for the purchase of a firearms simulator said Jane Struder town finance director The purchase was never made The money was returned to Epstein on Monday she said faces-solicitation-charge Police say lawyer tried to discredit teenage girls News Palm Beach Daily News Palm Beach FL Palm Beach Daily News Police say lawyer tried to discredit teenage girls Posted Jul at AM Updated Oct at PM EDITORS NOTE This story originally was published in The Palm Beach Post on July Famed Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz met with the Palm Beach County State Attorneys Office and provided damaging information about teenage girls who say they gave his client Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein sexually charged massages according to police reports The reports also state that another Epstein attorney agreed to a plea bargain that would have allowed Epstein to have no criminal record His current attorney denies this happened And the documents also reveal that the father of at least one girl complained that private investigators aggressively followed his car photographed his home and chased off visitors Police also talked to somebody who said she was offered money if she refused to cooperate with the Palm Beach Police Department probe of Epstein The state attorneys office said it presented the Epstein case to a county grand jury this month rather than directly charging Epstein because of concerns about the girls credibility The grand jury indicted Epstein on a single count of felony solicitation of prostitution which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison Police believed there was probable cause to charge Epstein with the more serious crimes of unlawful sex acts with a minor and lewd and lascivious molestation Police Chief Michael Reiter was so angry that he wrote State Attorney Barry Krischer a memo in May suggesting he disqualify himself from the case Police say lawyer tried to discredit teenage girls News Palm Beach Daily News Palm Beach FL The case originally was going to be presented to the grand jury in February but was postponed after Dershowitz produced information gleaned from the Web site myspace.com showing some of the alleged victims commenting on alcohol and marijuana use according to the police report prepared by Detective Joseph Recarey Haley Robson a 20-year-old Royal Palm Beach woman who told police she recruited girls for Epstein also is profiled on myspace.com Her page includes photos of her and her friends including one using the name Pim pin Made EZ Robson who was not charged in the case is a potential prosecution witness According to Recarey prosecutor Lanna Belohlavek offered Epstein attorneys Dershowitz and Guy Fronstin a plea deal in April Fronstin after speaking with Epstein accepted the deal in which Epstein would plead guilty to one count of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony be placed on five years probation and have no criminal record The deal also called for Epstein to submit to a psychiatric and sexual evaluation and have no unsupervised visits with minors according to Recareys report The plea bargain was made in connection with only one of the five alleged victims the report states Fronstin who declined to comment on the case was subsequently fired and veteran defense attorney Jack Goldberger was hired He denies there was any agreement by any of Epsteins attorneys to a plea deal We absolutely did not agree to a plea in this case he said Neither Belohlavek nor a state attorneys spokesman could be reached for comment The parent or parents of alleged victims who complained of being harassed by private investigators provided license tag numbers of two of the men Police found the vehicles were registered to a private eye in West Palm Beach and another in Jupiter according to Recareys report I have no knowledge of it defense attorney Goldberger said The report also says a woman connected to the Epstein case was contacted by somebody who was still in touch with Epstein That person told her she would be compensated if she didnt cooperate with police Recareys report says Those https pa lmbeachda i lynews com/a Police say lawyer tried to discredit teenage girls News Palm Beach Daily News Palm Beach FL who did talk will be dealt with the woman said she was told Phone records show the woman talked with the person who allegedly intimidated her around the time she said Recarey reported Phone records also show that the person said to have made the threat then placed a call to Epsteins personal assistant who in turn called a New York corporation affiliated with Epstein the report states The issue in the Epstein case is not whether females came to his waterfront home but whether he knew their ages Hes never denied girls came to the house Goldberger said But when Epstein was given a polygraph test he passed on knowledge of age the attorney said After the indictment against Epstein was unsealed this week Police Chief Reiter referred the matter to the FBI Weve received the referral and were reviewing it said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela in Miami The chief himself has come under attack from Epsteins lawyers and friends in New York where he has a home The New York Post quoted Epsteins prominent New York lawyer Gerald Lefcourt as saying his client was indicted only because of the craziness of the police chief Reiter has declined to comment on the case Prosecutors have not presented a sex-related case like Epsteins to a grand jury before said Mike Edmondson spokesman for the state attorneys office Thats what you do with a case that falls into a gray area he said The state attorneys office did not recommend a particular criminal charge on which to indict Epstein Edmondson said The grand jury was presented with a list of charges from highest to lowest then deliberated with the prosecutor out of the room he said People are surprised at the grand jury proceeding West Palm Beach defense attorney Richard Tendler said Its a way for the prosecutors office to not take the full responsibility for not filing the charge and not doing what the Palm Beach Police Department wanted I think something fell apart with those underage witnesses Police say lawyer tried to discredit teenage girls News Palm Beach Daily News Palm Beach FL Defense attorney Robert Gershman was a prosecutor for six years Those girls must have been incredible or untrustworthy I dont know he said Other attorneys said Epsteins case raises the issue of whether wealthy connected defendants like Epstein whose friends include former President Clinton and Donald Trump are treated differently from others Once he knew he was the subject of a criminal probe Epstein hired a phalanx of powerful attorneys such as Dershowitz and Lefcourt who is a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Miami lawyer Roy Black who became nationally known when he successfully defended William Kennedy Smith on a rape charge in Palm Beach also was involved at one point Said defense attorney Michelle Suskauer I think its unfortunate the public may get the perception that with power you may be treated differently than the average Joe The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE Expert Ignorance of age isnt defense in sex cases Posted Aug at AM Updated Oct at PM EDITORS NOTE This story originally published in The Palm Beach Post on Aug Even if Palm Beach money manager Jeffrey Epstein didnt know that girls who police say gave him sexual massages at his Intracoastal home were under the legal age that alone wouldnt have exempted him from criminal charges of sexual activity with minors Ignorance is not a valid defense said Bob Dekle a legal skills professor who was a Lake City prosecutor for nearly years half of that time specializing in sex crimes against children There is no knowledge element as far as the age is concerned Dekle said After an 11-month investigation Palm Beach police said there was probable cause to charge Epstein with unlawful sex acts with a minor and lewd and lascivious molestation They contend that Epstein friend of the rich and famous and financial patron of Democratic Party organizations and candidates committed those acts with five underage girls In the past week New York Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer has returned about in campaign contributions he received from Epstein and Mark Green a candidate to replace Spitzer in his current job has returned to him because of the Palm Beach scandal the New York Daily News has reported Rather than file charges the state attorneys office presented the case to a county grand jury The panel indicted Epstein last week on a single less serious charge of felony solicitation of prostitution The case raised eyebrows because the state attorneys office rarely if ever kicks such charges to a grand jury And it increases the difficulty of prosecuting child sex abuse cases especially when the defendant is enormously wealthy and can hire high-priced top-tier lawyers At least one of Epsteins alleged victims told police he knew she was underage when the two of them got naked for massages and sexual activity She was years old at the time and said Epstein asked her questions about her high school according to police reports A girl who said she met Epstein when she was said he told her if she told anybody what happened at his house bad things could happen the police reports state Epsteins youngest alleged victim was when she says she gave him a massage that included some sexual activity She is now The girls father says he doesnt know whether she told Epstein her age My daughter has kept a lot of what happened from me because of sheer embarrassment he said But she very much looked Any prudent man would have had second thoughts about that Defense attorney Jack Goldberger maintains that not only did Epstein pass a polygraph test showing he did not know the girls were minors but their stories werent credible The state attorneys office also implied that their credibility was an issue when it decided not to charge Epstein directly but instead give the case to the grand jury A prosecutor has to look at it in a much broader fashion a state attorneys spokesman said last week MlithlhM Epstein hired Harvard law Professor Alan Dershowitz when he became aware he was under investigation and Dershowitz gave prosecutors information that some of the alleged victims had spoke of using alcohol and marijuana on a popular Web site according to a Palm Beach police report Prosecutors typically consider two things in deciding whether to charge somebody with sex-related offenses against minors whether there is sufficient evidence and whether there is a public interest in doing so Dekle said If two teens are in a sexual relationship and the boy turns before the girl he could be charged with a sex crime if the sex continues There would be no public interest in pursuing that Dekle said But where there is a large gap in ages and especially in cases of teachers with students there is a public interest in prosecuting he said Likewise if the accused has a track record of sex with minors Still there is a universal constant in prosecuting these cases Dekle said Men who exploit underage children for sex often carefully choose their victims in ways that will minimize the risk to them he said Victims usually are from a lower social status and they may suffer from psychological problems Dekle said Lots of child sexual abuse victims have been victimized by multiple people over a period of time Then the act of abuse produces behavior in the victims that further damages their credibility Examples include promiscuous behavior and drug abuse Some of the alleged victims in the Epstein case returned to his home multiple times for the massage sessions and the to he typically paid them per visit That would be a definite problem for the prosecutor said Betty Resch who prosecuted crimes against children in Palm Beach County for five years and now is in private practice in Lake Worth The victim becomes less sympathetic to a jury Resch said But shes a victim nevertheless Shes a kid Most men charged with sex crimes against minors look normal Dekle said A jury expecting to see a monster seldom will And the victims ages work against them and in favor of the defendant in a trial Dekle said If a child and an adult tell different stories and both swear theyre telling the truth adult jurors are more likely to believe the adult Dekle said You have all these things working against you in a child sex abuse case Prosecutors normally try to be very careful in filing those cases because they know what theyre getting into There is no such thing as an iron-clad child sexual abuse case The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE Epstein camp calls female accusers liars Posted Aug at AM Updated Oct at PM EDITORS NOTE This story originally published in The Palm Beach Post on Aug Attorneys and publicists for Palm Beach financier Jeffrey Epstein went on the offensive Monday contending that teenage girls who have accused Epstein of sexual shenanigans at his waterfront home are liars and saying that the Palm Beach Police Department is childish There never was any sex between Jeffrey Epstein and any underage women his lead attorney,Jack Goldberger said from Idaho where he was vacationing with his family Epstein did have young women come to his house to give him massages Goldberger said Mr Epstein absolutely insisted anybody who came to his house be over the age of How he verified that I dont know The question is did anything illegal occur The law was not violated here He had no explanation as to why Epstein would pay girls or women with no massage training as the alleged victims said was the case to for their visits The credibility of these witnesses has been seriously questioned Goldberger said Epstein was indicted by a county grand jury last month on a charge of felony solicitation of prostitution After an 11-month investigation that included sifting through Epsteins trash and surveilling his home Palm Beach police concluded there was enough evidence to charge him with sexual activity with minors When the grand jury indicted Epstein on the less serious charge Police Chief Michael Reiter referred the case to the FBI to determine whether there were federal law violations After a spate of stories about the case last week New York publicist Dan Klores whose client list has included Paris Hilton and Jennifer Lopez said on Saturday that Epsteins camp was ready to get their story out They did that Monday via Goldberger and a Los Angeles publicist for Miami criminal defense attorney Roy Black who also has represented Epstein in the case We just think there has been a distorted view of this case in the media presented by the Palm Beach police Goldberger said Reiter has consistently declined to comment on the case and did not respond to a request for comment Monday The implication that State Attorney Barry Krischer was easy on Epstein by presenting the case to a grand jury rather than filing charges directly against him is wrong Goldberger said The Palm Beach Police Department was happy and ecstatic that the panel was going to review the evidence I think what happened is they werent happy with the result They decided to use the press to embarrass Mr Epstein But records show that Reiter wrote Krischer on May well before the case went to the grand jury suggesting that Krischer consider if good and sufficient reason exists to require your disqualification from the prosecution of these cases Rather than flat-out decline to charge Epstein Krischer referred the case to the grand jury to appease the chief Goldberger said A state attorneys spokesman would say only that the office refers cases to the grand jury when there are issues with the viability of the evidence or witnesses credibility Both the state attorney and the grand jury concluded there was not sufficient evidence that Epstein had sex with minors according to Goldberger It was just a childish performance by the Palm Beach Police Department Goldberger said The defense attorney said one of the alleged victims who claimed she was a minor was in fact over the age of Another alleged victim who was subpoenaed to testify to the grand jury failed to do so Epsteins accusers he added have histories of drug abuse and thefts These worn.en are liars Weve established that But why would they all invent their stories about meeting Epstein for sexual massages I dont have an answer as to what was the motivation for these worn.en to com.e forward and m.ake these allegations Goldberger said News pap rs ln est ry The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach Florida Aug Mon Page Downloaded on Nov Reiter focus of fire 1n Epstein case Clipped By reiter l.aJ Sat Apr Copyright Newspapers,com All Rights Reserved The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE Delays in Epstein case unusual lawyers say Posted Mar at AM Updated Oct at PM EDITORS NOTE This story originally published in The Palm Beach Post March A federal probe or a plea deal could explain the wait in the Palm Beacher solicitation case Nearly eight months after Palm Beach tycoon Jeffrey Epstein was charged with felony solicitation of prostitution there has been no discernible progress in his case No witnesses deposed No trial date set Nothing save for routine court hearings reset without explanation Usually that would be unusual said criminal defense attorney Glenn Mitchell who has no involvement in the case As a general rule it would be unusual for nothing to have happened agreed Michael Dutko a criminal defense attorney in Fort Lauderdale He represents Haley Robson of Royal Palm Beach potentially a key witness in the case A routine hearing for Epstein was pulled from the court docket last week and reset for May The delays and inaction could be due to a potential federal probe of Epstein or because a plea deal is in the works attorneys say Unusual is the word that best describes everything about the case against Epstein an enigmatic money manager in New York City who counts Bill Clinton and Donald Trump among his friends Highly unusual is how Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter described State Attorney Barry Krischer handling of the case in a bluntly critical letter to Krischer last year before Epstein was indicted Reiter referred the matter to the FBI to determine whether any federal laws had been violated Epsteins allies countered by attacking the chief personally and professionally Reiters department investigated Epstein for months Police sifted repeatedly through his trash and conducted surveillance on his five-bedroom 1/2-bath 7,234-square foot home on the Intracoastal Waterway Police said Epstein paid women and girls as young as to give him erotic massages at his home Police thought there was probable cause to charge him with unlawful sex acts with a minor and lewd and lascivious molestation Epstein responded by hiring a phalanx of lawyers One of them Harvard law professor and author Alan Dershowitz provided the state attorneys office with information about alcohol and marijuana use by some of the girls who said they were with Epstein Prosecutors then referred the case to the grand jury rather than file charges directly against Epstein Epsteins attorneys deny he had sex with underage girls The lawyers say the girls stories are not credible But if the court file is any indicator theyve made no effort to depose the girls Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys have sought to question Robson said Dutko her attorney She recruited teenage girls to visit Epstein for massages and sexual activity Palm Beach police said and presumably would be a key witness Epsteins attorney Jack Goldberger did not return phone messages A source close to the case suggested it is languishing pending a decision by the FBI on whether to refer it to federal prosecutors We still have a pending case FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said Monday State Attorney Krischer did not return a call for comment His spokesman Mike Edmondson declined to say whether federal investigators are delaying the Epstein case But he added if another agency is looking at something we wouldnt want to step on their toes Attorneys say inertia in a criminal case often points to a pending plea deal It would not surprise me if something has happened thats not reflected in the court file said Dutko such as an agreement that will be formalized later Defense attorney Marc Shiner said defense attorneys sometimes put off overtly conducting discovery deposing witnesses requesting documents and the like because doing so creates more work for harried prosecutors who may become angry and not offer a plea deal Sometimes defense lawyers knowing that will try and do discovery without taking depositions said Shiner a former prosecutor for years Instead they may conduct a below-the-radar probe such as having a private investigator check out leads he said Shiner and others say a plea deal for Epstein probably would result in pretrial intervention in which a defendant may be ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation counseling or other conditions in return for dropping the charge Edmondson spokesman for State Attorney Krischer said there is no plea offer and no request for the prosecution to show its cards To my knowledge its never happened before on a filed case he said I Thursday October Edition FINAL Section LOCAL Page 5B Source The Associated Press Illustration PHOTO Memo Ran all editions Dateline NEW YORK WOMAN SUES BILLIONAIRE INVESTOR SAYS THEY HAD SEX WHEN SHE WAS A billionaire investor already facing jail in Palm Beach County on charges of soliciting underage prostitutes is being sued by a young woman who says he had sex with her when she was and had sought his help becoming a model The lawsuit filed late Tuesday in Manhattans state Supreme Court says financier Jeffrey Epstein had the teen perform a sex act when she brought photographs of herself for him to review in his Upper East Side mansion sometime in Epstein a money manager told the teen he managed finances for Victorias Secret and could get you into the catalog if she were nice to him court papers say The papers say being nice included massages and other favors When the girl told Epstein I am years old and just want to model he replied Dont worry I wont tell anybody court papers say Epstein said by Londons Mail on Sunday to be a close friend of Englands Prince Andrew has been indicted in Palm Beach on charges of soliciting underage prostitutes That case is pending The girl visited Epstein several times over the several months and engaged in bizarre and unnatural sex acts while she was a minor the lawsuit says Epstein repeatedly requested that the girl return with her and 16-year-old girlfriends stating Come by with your friends your age next time Dont bring Sherrie a mutual friend in her I love girls your age The young woman now kept returning to Epstein because she has mental issues said her lawyer William Unroch He refused to elaborate but court papers say she was disabled as a result of severe mental disease and defect Epsteins lawyer in New York Gerald Lefcourt said The girl has admitted she is insane but she can read a newspaper and recognize the word rich Lefcourt also said the statute of limitations has expired for the womans case criminally and civilly and will almost certainly be dismissed He refused to comment on Epsteins Florida charges Meanwhile Unroch also acknowledged that his client was living with him and was at the center of a million lawsuit he filed last year against a neighbor who said he was having sex with underage girls That case is pending What she was doing at is irrelevant to what happened to her when she was Unroch said Wednesday He went on the say he hoped Epstein would agree to do right by his client and resolve the case out of court The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE Palm Beacher pleads in sex case Posted Jul at AM Updated Oct at PM EDITORS NOTE This story originally published in The Palm Beach Post on July Jeffrey Epstein will serve years on teen solicitation charges He lives in a Palm Beach waterfront mansion and has kept company with the likes of President Clinton Prince Andrew and Donald Trump but investment banker Jeffrey Epstein will call the Palm Beach County Jail home for the next months Epstein pleaded guilty Monday to felony solicitation of prostitution and procuring a person under the age of for prostitution After serving months in jail he will be under house arrest for a year And he will have a lifelong obligation to register as a sex offender He must submit to an HIV test within hours with the results being provided to his victims or their parents As part of the plea deaii federal investigators agreed to drop their investigation of Epstein which they had taken to a grand jury two law enforcement sources said Epstein was indicted two years ago after an 11-month investigation by Palm Beach police They received a complaint from a relative of a 14-year-old girl who had given Epstein a naked massage at his five-bedroom square-foot million Intracoastal home Police concluded that there were several other girls brought in and to an upstairs room at the home for similar massages and sexual touching The indictment charged Epstein only with felony solicitation of prostitution The state attorneys office later added the charge of procuring underage girls for that purpose Prosecutor Lanna Belohlavek said of the plea I took into consideration the length the trial would have been and witnesses having to testify about sometimes embarrassing incidents Epstein may have made a serious mistake soon after he was charged He rejected an offer to plead guilty to one count of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony according to police documents He would have gotten five years probation had no criminal record and not been a registered sex offender the documents indicate Epstein arrived in court Monday with at least three attorneys He wore a blue blazer blue shirt blue jeans and white and gray sneakers After Circuit Judge Deborah Dale Pucillo accepted the plea he was fingerprinted Epstein then removed his blazer and was handcuffed for the trip to jail while his attorneys tried to shield him from photographers lenses When he eventually is released to house arrest Epstein will have to observe a p.m to a.m curfew have no unsupervised contact with anyone younger than and neither own nor possess pornographic or sexual materials that are relevant to your deviant behavior the judge said Epstein will be allowed to leave home for work The New York-based money manager told the judge he has formed the not-for-profit Florida Science Foundation to finance scientific research Tm there every day Epstein said The foundation was incorporated in November Epstein said he already has awarded money to Harvard and MIT When he is released from jail there is a chance that Epstein will be forced to move Sex offenders are not allowed to live within feet of a school park or other areas where children may gather No determination has been made as to whether Epsteins home complies but attorneys said it likely does Sex offenders also typically must attend counseling sessions Belohlavek said that was waived for Epstein because his private psychiatrist is working with him The judge was skeptical but agreed to it Epsteins legal woes dont end with Mondays plea There are four pending federal civil lawsuits and one in state court related to his behavior At least one woman has sued him in New York where he owns a 51,0-square-foot Manhattan mansion Its validation of what were saying in the civil cases said Miami attorney Jeffrey Herman who represents the alleged victims in the federal lawsuits West Palm Beach attorney Ted Leopold represents one alleged victim in a civil suit in state court He said he anticipates amending that lawsuit to add a few other clients as well In the criminal case police went so far as to scour Epsteins trash and conduct surveillance at Palm Beach International Airport where they watched for his private jet so they would know when he was in town They concluded that Epstein paid girls to each after the massage sess10ns Tm like a Heidi Pleiss Haley Robson now told police about her efforts in recruiting girls for Epstein There was probable cause to charge Epstein with unlawful sex acts with a minor and lewd and lascivious molestation police concluded The state attorneys office said questions about the girls credibility led it to take the unprecedented step of presenting the evidence against Epstein to a grand jury rather than directly charging him Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter was furious with State Attorney Barry Krischer saying in a May letter that the prosecutor should disqualify himself I continue to find your offices treatment of these cases highly unusual he wrote He then asked for and got a federal investigation Epstein hired a phalanx of high-priced lawyers including Harvard law professor and author Alan Dershowitz and public relations people who questioned Reiters competence and the victims truthfulness In addition to mansions in Palm Beach and Manhattan Epstein owns homes in New Mexico and the Virgin Islands Hes a frequent contributor to Democratic Party candidates He also donated million to Harvard in Former New York Gov Eliot Spitzer returned a campaign contribution from Epstein after his indictment then resigned this year during his own sex scandal And the same Palm Beach Police Department that vigorously investigated Epstein returned his donation for the purchase of a firearms simulator Staff writer Eliot Kleinberg and former staff researcher Michelle Quigley contributed to this story The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE Jeffrey Epstein Scientist stuntman sex slave visit jailed tycoon By LARRY KELLER Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Posted Aug at AM Updated Jul at PM Tycoon Jeffrey Epstein mingled with an eclectic mix of people including beautiful young women before he got into trouble for paying teenage girls to give him sexual massages at his Palm Beach mansion Not much has changed even though he now resides in a dorm at the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Offices 17-acre stockade near the fairgrounds During his first month of confinement Epstein was visited by the female assistant who girls told police had escorted them to the room at his mansion where they gave him naked massages Also trekking to the jail was a young woman whom Epstein purportedly described as his Yugoslavian sex slave The wealthy financier and science wonk also has been visited by an expert on artificial intelligence as well as a man who is a mixed martial arts aficionado and sometime movie stuntman The only other people to visit him at the jail according to records are a Singer Island man and an individual who listed Epsteins Palm Beach address as his own Epstein pleaded guilty on June to two prostitution related charges and was sentenced to months in jail followed by a year of house arrest Epstein paid teenage girls to in and for massages in his home that sometimes included sexual touching Palm Beach police said His jail visitors in July included Sarah Kellen who some of the teen masseuses said phoned them when Epstein was in town and escorted them upon their arrival at his Palm Beach waterfront home to an upstairs room where she prepared the massage table and provided the oils for their encounters with him Kellen visited Epstein three times in July according to a jail visitors log Kellen lists a Manhattan home address Reached by telephone she declined to discuss Epstein Nadia Marcinkova whose family in Yugoslavia Epstein paid money to so that he could bring her to the United States to be his sex slave two teenage girls told police One girl told police that Epstein instructed Marcinkova and her to kiss and have sex while he watched and masturbated Another said she engaged in sex with Marcinkova at Epsteins urging Marcinkova visited Epstein in jail four times in days She lists her address as on the Upper East side of Manhattan not far from Epsteins enormous apartment Roger Schank founder of the Institute for Leaming Sciences at Northwestern University and an expert on artificial intelligence paid one visit to Epstein Schank has written numerous books on that subject and has a doctorate degree from Yale University in linguistics He was one of people who applied to be president of Florida Atlantic University in He became chieflearning officer at the online Trump University in Schank listed his address as being in Stuart and records show he also owns a home in Lake Worth Epstein has financed a number of scientists over the years including Nobel Prize winners He gave million to Harvard University in In November he formed the not-for-profit Florida Science Foundation which he said finances scientific research Igor Zinoviev a Russian mixed martial arts fighter who coaches a Chicago team in the International Fight League He also has worked as a personal trainer celebrity bodyguard and movie stuntman according to the leagues Web site The New Jersey resident visited Epstein seven times injuly Zinoviev Schank and Marcinkova could not be reached for comment Staff researcher Niels Heimeriks contributed to this story Palm Beach Daily News Billionaire sex offender leaves jail six days a week for work Posted Jul at AM Updated Oct at AM Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein whos serving months in jail for soliciting an underage girl for prostitution is allowed to leave the Palm Beach County Stockade six days a week on a work-release program Teri Barbera spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office confirmed that Epstein has been in the work-release program since Oct He works six days a week Friday through Wednesday a.m to p.m Barbera said via e-mail He works at his local West Palm Beach office monitored on an active GPS system he wears an ankle bracelet Mr Epstein hires a permit deputy at his expense for his own security at his workplace during the time he is out Miami attorney Jeffrey Herman represents six young women whove sued Epstein claiming he sexually abused them at his Palm Beach home when they were minors Herman said he received a letter about the work-release program from the U.S Attorneys Office within the past few days But Herman says Epstein had been out on work release for several weeks before the notification My clients expressed shock and disappointment Herman said I find it incredible that hes on work-release in the community and my clients arent notified of this and we get this letter weeks after the fact Jack Goldberger Epsteins criminal attorney said the arrangement is not unusual He goes to work every single day and goes back to jail at night just like everybody else in the program Goldberger said Epstein pleaded guilty June to two felony counts soliciting prostitution and procuring a person under for prostitution As part of the plea agreement Epstein must serve one year of house arrest and register as a lifelong sex offender The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE Women want Epstein sex plea deal unsealed Posted Jul at AM Updated Oct at PM EDITORS NOTE This story originally published in The Palm Beach Post June Their attorneys will ask a judge to open Jeffrey Epsteins records When wealthy money manager Jeffrey Epstein of Palm Beach pleaded guilty last year to procuring teens for prostitution his case detoured around local and state rules regarding the sealing of court documents At a plea conference on the state charges a judge a defense lawyer and a prosecutor huddled at the bench and decided that a deal Epstein had struck with federal prosecutors to avoid charges should be sealed according to a transcript of the hearing And so it was But Florida rules of judicial administration as well as rules of the Palm Beach County court system require public notification that a court document has been or will be sealed meaning kept from public view The rules also require a judge to find a significant reason to seal such as protecting a trade secret or a compelling government interest Yet no notification or reason occurred in Epsteins case according to court records Epsteins own attorneys in federal filings have referred to his confidential deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S attorneys office struck in September as unprecedented and highly unusual And it was a significant inducement for Epstein to accept the states deal observed the state judge who accepted his plea County Judge Deborah Dale Pucillo Epstein now faces at least a dozen civil lawsuits in federal and state courts filed by young women who said they had sex with him and now are seeking damages Attorneys for some of those women want his agreement with federal prosecutors unsealed and will ask Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath to do so today It is against public policy for these documents to be have been sealed and hidden from public scrutiny As a member of the public E.W has a right to have these documents unsealed wrote former Circuit Judge Bill Berger now in private practice and representing one of the women The Palm Beach Post also will ask Colbath to unseal the agreement Post attorney Deanna Shullman will argue that the public has a right to know the specifics of Epsteins deal According to various media accounts Epstein moved in circles that included President Clinton Donald Trump and Prince Andrew International Moneyman of Mystery declared a New York magazine profile of Epstein Epstein is in the Palm Beach County Stockade serving an 18-month sentence after pleading guilty nearly a year ago to felony solicitation of prostitution and procuring teenagers for prostitution He is allowed out from a.m to p.m escorted by a deputy said Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Teri Barbera During a Palm Beach Police Department investigation five victims and witnesses gave statements They told of young women brought by his assistants to Epsteins mansion on El Brillo Way for massages and sexual activity and then being paid afterward At Epsteins plea conference last year his attorney Jack Goldberger and then-Assistant State Attorney Lanna Belohlavek approached Pucillo in a sidebar conference Pucillo who had left the bench nine years earlier was filling in temporarily as a senior judge According to a transcript Goldberger told Pucillo that Epstein had entered a confidential agreement with the U.S attorneys office in which federal prosecutors brokered not pursuing charges against him if he pleaded guilty in state court Pucillo then said she wanted a sealed copy of the agreement filed in his case and Goldberger concurred that he wanted it sealed Belohlavek later signed off on it The Florida Supreme Court has expressed serious concern and launched an all-out inquiry into sealing procedures across the state following media reports in of entire cases being sealed and disappearing from court records The publics constitutional right of access to court records must remain inviolate and this court is fully committed to safeguarding this right justices wrote in their final report Epsteins office on Tuesday referred any questions to Goldberger who declined to comment Pucillo also has declined to comment The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE Epstein secret pact with Feds reveals highly unusual terms Posted Jun at AM Updated Oct at AM EDITORS NOTE This story originally published in The Palm Beach Post on September A secret non-prosecution agreement multimillionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein struck with federal prosecutors is being called highly unusual by former federal prosecutors and downright outrageous by attorneys now representing young women who serviced him The deal reveals that the FBI and the U.S Attorneys Office investigated him for several federal crimes including engaging minors in commercial sex The crimes are punishable by anywhere from years to life in prison But federal prosecutors backed down and agreed to recall grand jury subpoenas if Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution-related felonies in state court which he ultimately did He received an 18-month jail sentence of which he served months The U.S Attorneys Office also agreed not to charge any of Epsteins possible co-conspirators Sarah Kellen Adriana Ross Lesley Groff and Nadia Marcinkova The deal was negotiated in part by heavyweight New York criminal defense attorney Gerald Lefcourt Unsealed on Friday after attorneys for some of Epsteins victims and The Palm Beach Post sought its release it offers the first public look at the deal Epsteins high-powered legal counsel brokered on his behalf Mark Johnson of Stuart a former federal prosecutor described the disparity in potential sentences as unusual but even more so a provision on attorney payment The first draft of the agreement in September required that Epstein pay an attorney tapped by the U.S Attorneys Office and approved by Epstein to represent some of the victims That attorney is prominent Miami lawyer Bob Josefsberg But an addendum to the agreement signed the following month struck Epsteins duty to pay Josefsberg if he and the victims did not accept settlements capped at and instead pursued lawsuits Johnson said it appears the government was trying to balance the lesser sentence for Epstein with recovering for each victim Ive never ever seen anything like that in my life he said Its highly unusual The deal does not say whether any victims were contacted or consulted before the deal was made Attorney Brad Edwards of Fort Lauderdale who represents three of the young women believes that none of the to woman identified as victims in the federal investigation were told ahead of time Edwards said his clients received letters from the U.S Attorneys Office months after the deal was signed assuring them Epstein would be prosecuted Never consulting the victims is probably the most outrageous aspect of it Edwards said It taught them that someone with money can buy his way out of anything Its outrageous and embarrassing for United States Attorneys Office and the State Attorneys Office Epstein now faces many civil lawsuits filed by the women who are represented by a variety of attorneys In many the allegations are the same that Epstein had a predilection for teenage girls identified poor vulnerable ones and used other young women to lure them to his Palm Beach mansion They walked away with between and Former Circuit Judge Bill Berger also representing victims called the agreement a sweetheart deal Why was it so important for the government to make this deal Berger asked rhetorically We have not yet had an honest explanation by any public official as to why it was made and why the victims were sold down the river Former federal prosecutor Ryon McCabe described the agreement as very unorthodox Such agreements he said are usually reserved for corporations not individuals Its very very rare Ive never seen or heard of the procedure that was set up here said McCabe who has no involvement in any Epstein litigation Hes essentially avoiding federal prosecution because he can afford to pay that many lawyers to help those victims review their cases If a person has no money he couldnt be able to strike a deal like this and avoid federal prosecution The backroom deal with federal prosecutors is all the more interesting in light of the legal powerhouses who have worked for Epstein including Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz and Bill Clinton investigator Kenneth Starr Lefcourt is a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Epsteins local defense attorney,Jack Goldberger issued a statement Friday saying he had fought the release of the sealed agreement to protect the third parties named there Mr Epstein has fully abided by all of its terms and conditions He is looking forward to putting this difficult period in his life behind him He is continuing his long standing history of science philanthropy The investigation triggered tensions between police and prosecutors with then Palm Beach Chief Michael Reiter saying in a May letter to then-State Attorney Barry Krischer that the chief prosecutor should disqualify himself I continue to find your offices treatment of these cases highly unusual Reiter wrote He then asked for and got the federal investigation that ended in the sealed deal The Jeffrey Epstein matter was an experience of what a many-million-dollar defense can accomplish Reiter told the Palm Beach Daily News upon his retirement Wednesday January Edition FINAL Section LOCAL BUSINESS Page 3B Source By JANE MUSGRAVE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Dateline WEST PALM BEACH JUDGE RULES EPSTEIN ATTORNEYS CAN SUBPOENA ABORTION RECORDS In a decision that could spark a constitutional showdown over privacy rights a judge Tuesday gave lawyers representing multimillionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein the right to subpoena abortion records from women who are seeking millions in damages from the part time Palm Beach resident Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Donald Hafele said the records could help Epstein rebut the womens claims that they suffered psychological ills after being paid to give him sexually-charged massages at his Palm Beach mansion when they were as young as Hafele told Epsteins attorneys they couldnt go on a fishing expedition The medical records he said cant be sought until the women are asked whether they have ever had an abortion how many and where Further he said the records would not be made public and might not be admissible during trial But he said since the women claim Epstein now is responsible for their emotional distress his attorneys can explore the impact of other events Medical records Hafele said are a better source of information than a persons memory Attorney Louis Silver who represents the Presidential Womens Health Center a West Palm Beach clinic where abortions are performed warned Hafele that he was stepping on shaky constitutional grounds These records are protected by our constitutional right of privacy he said referring to the Florida Constitution After the hearing Silver said an appeal wont be necessary until Epstein attorneys seek the records In another ruling Wednesday Hafele also said that videos from depositions in the state cases cant be released without a court order The ruling came after Epstein attorney Robert Critton complained that a video of Epstein being asked whether he had an egg-shaped penis became a youtube.com sensation It first appeared on The Palm Beach Post Web site Critton blamed attorney Spencer Kuvin for releasing it Kuvin said it was public record The civil suits began mounting after Epstein agreed to plead guilty to two state charges procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution He served months of an month sentence As part of the deal brokered with federal prosecutors he agreed not to contest the accusations in the civil lawsuits He can argue the women dont deserve the millions they are seeking jane musgrave pbpost.com The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE Epstein Journals Findings Could Resurrect Case By Jane Musgrave Posted Sep at AM Updated Oct at AM EDITORS NOTE This story originally published in The Palm Beach Post on March A purloined journal that is said to contain the names of hundreds of victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein could be used to reopen the investigation into the multi-millionaires appetite for teenage girls an attorney representing seven of the victims said Friday New details about the contents of the journal were released this week when Alfredo Rodriguez who worked as a property manager for the Palm Beach resident pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for lying to federal agents when asked if he had any information about his former boss criminal activity He later tried to sell the journal he stole from Epstein for to an unidentified person who alerted authorities according to court records As part of the plea agreement federal prosecutors said the journal contains information material to the Epstein investigation including the names of material witnesses and additional victims Had the items been produced in response to the inquiries of state or federal authorities the materials would have been presented to the federal grand jury federal prosecutors wrote Instead prosecutors short-circuited the grand jury investigation and cut a deal with Epstein They agreed not to pursue federal charges if he didnt contest prostitution related felonies in state court The money manager pleaded guilty in July to procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution He served months of an month sentence Attorney Adam Horowitz who represents seven of the roughly women who have filed civil suits against Epstein said the new information could trump the so called non-prosecution agreement The multifaceted agreement he said deals only with a specific list of victims that the U.S Attorneys Office knew about when it penned the deal in If additional victims are listed in the journal Rodriguez stole Horowitz said federal prosecutors could reopen the investigation It opens the door for further prosecution he said In addition to turning over the journal to federal agents Rodriguez told them he knew his former boss was having sex with underage girls when he worked for him in and He had seen naked girls who looked like minors in the pool of Epsteins million mansion He had seen pornographic images of young girls on Epsteins computer according to court records Neither Epsteins criminal defense attorney Jack Goldberger nor attorney Robert Critton who represents Epstein in the civil lawsuits could be reached Federal prosecutors have consistently declined comment The wording of the controversial agreement is unclear It says federal prosecutors would provide Epsteins attorneys with a list of individuals whom it has identified as victims Miami attorney Robert Josefsberg was appointed to represent any of the victims on the list who wanted to pursue Epstein in civil court As part of the agreement Epstein is to pay for Josefsberg to represent the women Some of the women most identified as Jane Doe in lawsuits had already hired attorneys to represent them Some have since settled their suits with Epstein although terms were not disclosed Horowitz said he has filed court papers to get the journal that Rodriguez stole Its another piece of evidence that shows our clients were at Epsteins mansion he said Rodriguez told prosecutors he didnt turn over the journal when both FBI and Palm Beach police asked for it because he wanted money for it He also said he was afraid Epstein would make him disappear The information he told investigators was his insurance policy He faces a maximum years in prison when he is sentenced on June jane_musgrave pbpost.com pbpcourts The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE Epstein paid three women million to end underage sex lawsuits By Jane Musgrave Posted Oct at AM Updated Oct at AM Ending years of speculation about how much Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein paid young women who claimed he used them as sex toys court documents filed last week show he shelled out million to settle lawsuits with three of more than two dozen teens who sued him Responding to requests from Epsteins attorneys in a complex lawsuit that was spawned by the sex scandal attorney Bradley Edwards said the politically-connected 64-year-old convicted sex offender paid more than million to each of the three women Edwards represented Identified in court papers only by their initials or pseudonyms because of the nature of the allegations and their youthful ages L.M was paid million E.W million and Jane Doe million Edwards said of the settlements he negotiated with Epstein to end the lawsuits Jack Goldberger one of Epsteins criminal defense attorneys on Tuesday declined comment on the revelations citing confidentiality agreements that were part of the settlements For the same reason he declined to say whether Epstein paid similar amounts to settle roughly two dozen lawsuits filed by other young women against Epstein claiming he paid them for sex when some were as young as years old Attorney Jack Scarola who is representing Edwards said his client was compelled to divulge the confidential settlements to answer questions posed by Epsteins attorneys Brilliant move on their part he said Even if Epsteins attorneys hadnt opened the door Scarola said the information would have likely come out He says the information will help him undermine Epsteins claims that Edwards ginned up the allegations to help his former law partner imprisoned and disbarred Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein perpetuate a billion Ponzi scheme The revelations of the settlements came as part of an ongoing lawsuit that started as a dispute between Epstein and Rothstein both billionaires A year after Epstein in pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and procuring a minor for prostitution he sued Rothstein and Edwards claiming they trumped up the allegations of sexual molestation to perpetuate the Ponzi scheme Rothstein was sentenced to years in prison in after admitting he had built his wildly successful law firm by forging the names of federal judges and others to persuade investors he had negotiated settlements in lawsuits against high-profile people Investors were told they could get a cut of the cash One of the high-profile people Rothstein used to lure investors was Epstein according to a lawsuit West Palm Beach attorney Robert Critton filed on Epsteins behalf According to the lawsuit Rothstein told investors Epstein a money manager had agreed to settle the lawsuits with the teens for million a claim Critton described as a complete fabrication After Epstein dropped the lawsuit in Edwards turned the tables on him Edwards accused Epstein of filing the lawsuit maliciously to punish him for representing the young women Although Edwards was a partner in Rothsteins now defunct firm Scarola claims Epstein had no evidence Edwards was involved in the Ponzi scheme Federal prosecutors successfully charged other attorneys and members of the firm but Edwards was never implicated Scarola said in the malicious prosecution lawsuit The revelations about the money Epstein paid to three of the young woman came last week in documents filed for a hearing Tuesday in preparation for a December trial on the lawsuit Attorney Tonja Haddad Coleman who represents Epstein on Tuesday sought a delay of the trial in part because she claimed she has been unable to talk to her client since his estate on his private island in the U.S Virgin Islands was devastated last month by Hurricane Irma Ive had no ability to communicate with Mr Epstein she said Pointing out Epsteins enormous wealth and his private jet Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Donald Hafele rejected her request While saying he didnt want to appear insensitive to those victimized by the storm that hammered the Caribbean and roared through South Florida he said Coleman offered no proof such as an affidavit from Epstein to shore up her claims Still Hafele gave Coleman extra time to respond to various motions that he will have to decide before the case goes to trial Despite Scarolas insistence that Edwards had nothing to do with Rothsteins Ponzi scheme Coleman said the evidence indicates otherwise Why else would he try to depose Epsteins well-known friends such as now President Donald Trump former President Bill Clinton and illusionist David Copperfield she asked He used the celebrities as a draw she said The Epstein cases were used to fleece money and defraud investors she said Edwards malicious prosecution case has been difficult for both sides because both Epstein and Edwards have refused to answer questions As he did in the civil lawsuits Epstein has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned by Scarola Edwards has claimed that much of the information Epstein is seeking is protected by attorney-client privilege The malicious prosecution lawsuit is one of two hotly-contested lawsuits that continue to pit Edwards against Epstein Edwards also is suing the U.S attorneys office claiming it violated the federal Crime Victims Rights Act when it negotiated a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein Only after federal prosecutors agreed to drop their investigation of Epstein did he agree to plead guilty to two prostitution charges in Palm Beach County Circuit Court In federal court records prosecutors claim one of the key reasons they agreed to drop their case was Epsteins agreement to settle lawsuits filed against him by dozens of his underage victims Palm Beach Daily News Judge rules feds agreement with Jeffrey Epstein pact violated teen victims rights By Jane Musgrave Posted Sep at PM Updated Oct at PM EDITORS NOTE This story originally published in The Palm Beach Post on February Federal prosecutors violated the rights of Jeffrey Epsteins teenage victims by failing to reveal they had dropped plans to prosecute the billionaire on dozens of federal charges in connection with the girls claims that he paid them for sex at his Palm Beach mansion U.S District Judge Kenneth Marra ruled on Thursday In a blistering 33-page ruling Marra meticulously and methodically detailed the numerous steps federal prosecutors took to hide the agreement from more than young women who claim Epstein paid them for sex when they were as young as While the government spent untold hours negotiating the terms and implications of the NPA with Epsteins attorneys scant information was shared with the victims Marra wrote Instead the victims were told to be patient while the investigation proceeded By then it was too late A deal had already been cut with then-South Florida U.S Attorney Alex Acosta and Epsteins attorneys to shelve a 52-page federal indictment against Epstein a former math teacher turned money manager who counts Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton among his friends Prosecutors failure to alert the young women about the deal violated the Crime Victims Rights Act Marra ruled At a bare minimum the act required the government to inform the young women that it intended to enter into an agreement not to prosecute Epstein he wrote Still Marra said he wasnt second-guessing prosecutors decision not to pursue Epstein on federal charges ifhe pleaded guilty to minor state prostitution charges and agreed to compensate his victims for the trauma he caused The court is not ruling that the decision not to prosecute was improper Marra wrote The court is simply ruling that under the facts of this case there was a violation under the CVRA Further he made no decision about what the remedy should be He gave prosecutors and attorneys representing the young women days to meet to decide how to unravel the complex legal web that has been hanging over Epstein and his young victims for more than a decade The chances an accord will be reached are slim said attorney Jack Scarola who is representing the two Jane Does who challenged the prosecutors actions Further he said there is no road map to follow The lawsuit attorney Bradley Edwards filed on behalf of the two unidentified young women claiming prosecutors violated the federal act is unique he said We are treading on virgin ground to use what is probably an inappropriate phrase in this situation he said Scarola said he and Edwards will ask that the non prosecution agreement be thrown out That would open the possibility that the long-shelved federal indictment could be dusted off and filed against the 66-year-old Epstein who spends most of his time on a private island he owns in the U.S Virgin Islands I dont see the government conceding to that remedy Scarola admitted Further he said it is likely Epstein will be allowed to weigh in Miami attorney Roy Black years ago filed papers asking to intervene on Epsteins behalf The U.S Attorneys Office said it wouldnt comment on Marra ruling Neither Black nor New York City attorney Jay Lefkowitz who led efforts to bury the federal indictment responded to emails or phone calls for comment West Palm Beach attorney Jack Goldberger who represents Epstein also didnt respond Scarola said it is likely Epsteins star-studded legal team will argue that Epstein fully complied with the terms of the agreement he made in with federal prosecutors and therefore the agreement cant be undone As he promised Epstein pleaded guilty in June to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution He served months of an 18-month jail term in a vacant wing of the county stockade that he was allowed to leave hours a day six days week Further as agreed he paid settlements to the young women who sued him While the settlements were confidential court records show he paid three women a total of million In return federal prosecutors held up their end of the bargain Their investigation ceased Having done all that prosecutors asked of him Scarola said Epstein will make a simple argument You cant turn around and deprive me of the benefits I bargained for However Scarola said using Marras ruling he will counter that the contract Epstein signed was illegal and therefore unenforceable Even if Marra agrees to toss out the non-prosecution agreement Scarola conceded that doesnt mean Epstein will face federal charges The contract can be set aside and the federal government can attempt to enter into the same agreement he said Except the spotlight of public attention will be on them and the victims will be able to explain to the court why this sweetheart deal should not be approved Scarola said that prosecutors may have had good reason not to pursue Epstein There may be a reasonable explanation but we dont know what that reason may have been he said In court papers federal prosecutors have said that many of the young women were afraid to cross the powerful politically connected money manager and simply refused to testify against him In other cases they said the women changed their stories Jane Doe who is trying to have the non-prosecution agreement thrown out initially described Epstein as an awesome man and told prosecutors she hoped nothing happens to him While she later agreed to testify against Epstein prosecutors said they feared Epsteins attorneys would use her words to destroy her if she ever took the witness stand Marra however said the young womans comments didnt mean she wasnt entitled to know about the prosecutors plans to drop the charges There is no dispute that Epstein sexually abused Jane Doe while she was a minor he wrote Therefore regardless of her comments to the prosecutor she was a victim Before the case is finally resolved Scarola predicted that a lot of people are going to have to answer a lot of questions In his ruling Marra detailed what appeared to be a cozy relationship between Acosta his line prosecutors and Epsteins team oflawyers His phalanx oflawyers included noted Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr the former U.S solicitor general whose investigation led to the impeachment of President Clinton Marra describes an October breakfast meeting between Acosta who is now U.S labor secretary and Lefkowitz shortly after the non-prosecution agreement was inked After the meeting Lefkowitz sent Acosta a note thanking him for the commitment you made to me during our October meeting in which you assured me that your Office would not contact any of the identified individuals potential witnesses or potential civil claimants and their respective counsel in this matter Marra quoted an equally pleasant note then Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer sent to Assistant U.S Attorney Marie Villafana who was the lead prosecutor in Epsteins case Glad we could get this worked out for reasons I wont put in writing Krischer wrote shortly after the non-prosecution agreement was signed After this is resolved I would love to buy you a cup at Starbucks and have a conversation Many of the notes that were exchanged dealt with prosecutors and Epsteins lawyers shared desire to keep the deal secret from Epsteins accusers In a September email Villafana asked Lefkowitz for guidance about what she should reveal And can we have a conference call to discuss what I may disclose to the girls regarding the Agreement she asked Such cooperation between prosecutors and defense attorneys is unusual Marra said It was a deviation from the governments standard practice to negotiate with defense counsel about the extent of crime victim notifications he wrote Further he noted that when Edwards and his two young clients asked for information they were repeatedly misled The CR VA was designed to protect victims right and ensure their involvement in the criminal justice process Marra wrote When the government gives information to victims it cannot be misleading Ultimately the terms of the non-prosecution agreement were revealed only after Edwards and attorneys for the press successfully sued to make them public jmusgrave pbpost.com pbpcourts Tuesday July Edition Final Section A Section Page 1A Source By Jane Musgrave The Palm Beach Post Epstein indicted on sex charges Part-time Palm Beacher pleads not guilty to sex trafficking conspiracy charges in federal court in Manhattan Dressed in a blue prison jumpsuit billionaire Jeffrey Epstein on Monday pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of creating a vast network of girls as young as that he exploited for his sexual pleasure at his homes in Palm Beach and Manhattan The 66-year-old money managers appearance in U.S District Court in New York City capped more than a decade of recriminations by young women and their attorneys who claimed Epstein used his money and political influence to avoid federal prosecution Epsteins attorney Reid Weingarten dismissed the two-count indictment on sex trafficking charges as essentially a do-over of allegations that landed Epstein in the Palm Beach County Jail for months more than a decade ago However unlike in when then-South Florida U.S Attorney Alex Acosta agreed to shelve a 53-page federal indictment after Epstein agreed to plead guilty to two state prostitution charges prosecutors in New York indicated they arent willing to deal Acosta is now U.S labor secretary The alleged behavior shocks the conscience New York City U.S Attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a morning news conference And while the charged conduct is from a number of years ago it is still profoundly important to many of the alleged victims now young women They deserve their day in court At a detention hearing scheduled for Monday Berman said he will ask a federal judge to keep Epstein behind bars until he is tried on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking Epstein paid dozens of young women to give him nude massages that for most led to sex he said If convicted of exploiting dozens of young women including many Palm Beach County girls who were students at Royal Palm Beach High School Epstein faces a maximum 45-year prison sentence Citing Epsteins enormous wealth his homes in New York Palm Beach the U.S Virgin Islands New Mexico and Paris and his ownership of two jets Berman said there are few conditions that could keep Epstein from fleeing to a foreign country to evade prosecution We think hes a significant flight risk Berman said of the man who ferried Britains Prince Andrew actor Kevin Spacey famed Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and former President Bill Clinton on his jet dubbed the Lolita Express Bermans hard-line stance was welcomed by young women who for years have been told that Epstein couldnt be touched because Acosta signed off on the nonprosecution agreement promising not to charge Epstein in federal court Former Palm Beach County resident Virginia Guiffre who has accused Epstein ofturning her into his sex slave and forcing her to have sex with others including Dershowitz and Prince Andrew praised Berman He showed the case is being taken in a serious way she told the Associated Press Dershowitz has vehemently denied Guiffres claims New York prosecutors were able to ignore the controversial nonprosecution agreement because it contained some significant fine print said former federal Judge Paul Cassell who for years has fought to get the agreement thrown out It says only that no charges could be filed against Epstein in South Florida he said Berman agreed That agreement only binds by its terms only binds the Southern District of Florida he said The Southern District ofNew York is not bound by that agreement and wasnt a signatory of it That means the sordid allegations that have been leveled at Epstein for years are now part of a federal indictment Contrary to Epsteins claims he knew the women who came to his homes in New York and Palm Beach were minors because they told him their ages according to the indictment Epstein preyed on young girls because he knew they were vulnerable to exploitation prosecutors added As part of a carefully orchestrated sex ring Epstein or his associates would call girls while he was in New York so they would be available for sex once he returned to Palm Beach the indictment says The employees werent named They were identified only as Employee-I Employee-2 and Employee-3 To ensure he had a steady stream of young girls Epstein would tum some victims into recruiters He would pay them to bring new girls to his home on El Brillo Way along the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Beach or to his palatial townhouse on New Yorks Upper East Side This allowed Epstein to create an ever-expanding web of new victims Berman said In both New York and Palm Beach the lurid operation was similar Unidentified employees of Epsteins would escort the teens into a room They were told to take off all or most of their clothes before giving the naked billionaire massages according to the indictment Epstein would also typically masturbate during these encounters ask victims to touch him while he masturbated and touch victims genitals with his hands or with sex toys the indictment says As part of the criminal complaint prosecutors are asking that Epstein be forced to turn over his multimillion-dollar townhouse on East st Street The complaint does not seek forfeiture of Epsteins house in Palm Beach While heartened that Epstein now faces serious criminal charges in New York Cassell said he would continue to push a West Palm Beach-based federal judge to throw out the nonprosecution agreement that Acosta forged with Epsteins star-studded legal team U.S District Judge Kenenth Marra has already ruled that Acosta violated the federal Crime Victims Rights Act by not telling Epsteins victims about the agreement before it was inked Coincidentally Cassell and Epstein attorney Roy Black had to file papers by midnight Monday explaining what action Marra should take to redress that wrong Cassell insisted Epstein should face charges in federal court in West Palm Beach Florida victims deserve justice in Florida said Cassell who is working on behalf of Epsteins victims with attorneys Bradley Edwards and Jack Scarola Since its likely Florida women will get to testify against Epstein in New York Scarola said hes not focused on whether Epstein will face charges here Instead he said he wants to know how and why the agreement was reached Theres been no explanation as to how a deal like this could have been cut and how the federal government could have been involved in a conspiracy to violate federal law Scarola said of his interest in continuing the legal battle over the nonprosecution agreement When Acosta agreed to drop the federal investigation Epstein in pleaded guilty to two prostitution charges and served months of an 18-month sentence in a vacant wing of the Palm Beach County Jail a cell he was allowed to leave hours a day six days a week He was also forced to register as a sex offender and settle civil lawsuits more than young women filed against him U.S Rep Lois Frankel D-West Palm Beach said she shares Scarolas interest in finding out how the agreement came to be I am especially more interested in why Epstein got the deal he got Frankel said We need to know why he was given such an easy sentence While she has asked the House Oversight Committee to investigate Acosta Frankel said she is not sure that will happen It just seems to me it was a travesty that this guy got off the way he did and without pre-judging it lets have a proper court case Frankel said Former Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter was inflamed in when then-State Attorney Barry Krischer refused to charge Epstein with serious crimes Reiter took the information his officers had gathered from dozens of Epsteins victims to Acosta believing he would prosecute Epstein He didnt Reiter said he was heartened that years later Epstein will finally face justice Thankfully Attorney Berman and the other authorities in New York have the good judgment to investigate and prosecute Epstein in the way that should have occurred in Florida over a decade ago Reiter said in a statement And Scarola said there are signals that Bermans investigation is far from over Berman declined to answer questions about whether others such as Epsteins high-powered friends would be charged He brushed off questions about the significance that the investigation was being handled by the Public Corruption Unit While agents on Saturday were arresting Epstein aboard his private jet at the Teterboro Airport in New Jersey after returning from Paris other officers were searching his New York City townhouse Agents seized nude photos of young girls who appeared to be minors Berman said He said his focus was on finding more women who were exploited and abused by Epstein Turning to a poster detailing the charges that had been filed against Epstein he pointed a finger at a photo of the convicted sex offender who was once described as a man of mystery If you believe you are a victim of this man Jeffrey Epstein we want to hear from you Berman said A special number 1-800-CALLFBI will link victims of authorities Bill Sweeney assistant director of the FBIs New York office said after years of being ignored by federal agents the victims voices will be heard The Jeffrey Epstein matter is No on the major case list in the country Sweeney said Turning to address Epsteins victims directly he said Your bravery may empower others to speak out against crimes against them jmusgrave pbpost.com
