Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is one of many federal prosecutors coming under fire across the country this week in wake of the new charges brought against convicted pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
In 2008, Epstein was ordered to register as a sex offender as part of a non-prosecution plea deal after he solicited sex from an underage girl in Miami.
Three years later, a seasoned sex crimes prosecutor from Vance’s office, Assistant DA Jennifer Gaffney, urged a federal judge to downgrade Epstein’s sex-offender status in New York from a Level 3, the highest, to Level 1, the lowest possible classification.
The change in status would have limited the personal information available to the public and would have prevented him from being registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
A Florida board had already assessed Epstein to be a ‘dangerous predator’ who was likely to re-offend by preying on young women again, but still Vance’s office persisted.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is one of many federal prosecutors coming under fire across the country this week in wake of the new charges brought against convicted pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein
A seasoned sex crimes prosecutor from Vance’s office, Assistant DA Jennifer Gaffney, urged a federal judge to downgrade Epstein’s sex-offender status in New York from a Level 3, the highest, to Level 1, the lowest possible classification, after he was found to have solicited sex from an underage girl in Flordia
Presiding judge Justice Pickholz fiercely denied the request, expressing her shock that the state prosecutors would argue in the favor of a man accused of molesting multiple underage girls in other states.
‘I have to tell you, I’m a little overwhelmed because I have never seen a prosecutor’s office do anything like this,’ the judge told Gaffney, as reported by The New York Times.
The office later u-turned on their stance, filing a new brief agreeing with Epstein’s status as a Level 3 offender, citing a ‘combination of mistaken interpretation of governing legal standards’ which led them to believe Level 1 would be sufficient.
Vance personally interjected too, saying the request was a mistake and it was issued by Gaffney without his prior knowledge.
Irregardless, the 2011 incident was not the last time Vance’s office would be questions over its seeming preferential treatment for high-profile defendants.
The following year, Vance’s office opted not to press charges against Ivanka Trump and Donald Jr. for their part in trying to dupe investors into buying a failed condominium project in New York, despite reams of evidence suggesting that was precisely their intention.
Trump’s attorney, Marc Kasowitz, made a $32,000 donation to Vance office just five months later, raising suspicions of bribery.
Vance’s office also opted not to press charges against Ivanka Trump and Donald Jr. in 2011 for their part in trying to dupe investors into buying a failed condominium project in New York, despite reams of evidence suggesting that was precisely their intention
Trump’s attorney, Marc Kasowitz, made a $32,000 donation to Vance office just five months later, raising suspicions of bribery
Vance also refused to prosecute shamed Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein after he was accused of groping an Italian model. Again, in the months after he blocked groping case, Weinstein’s lawyer later donated more than $26,000 to his campaign
In 2017 Vance refunded the donation after being quizzed about the hefty sum by a reporter.
Vance also refused to prosecute shamed Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein after he was accused of groping an Italian model, before later opting to prosecute him for sexual misconduct with two other victims.
Again, in the months after the initial blocked groping case, Weinstein’s lawyer later donated more than $26,000 to his campaign.
The DA has previously vehemently denied showing favorability to any defendants wealth or social status, adding that any such claim is ‘simply wrong and is inconsistent and opposite to what I believe in and to what the lawyers office believe in.’
But once again his team faced renewed criticism for their decision in the 2008 hearing this week, after the billionaire pleaded not guilty to additional charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy after his arrest at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey Saturday.
An indictment publicly released on Monday claims that Epstein ‘sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls’ between 2002 and 2005, in two of his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida.
The 66-year-old is said to have also created and sustained a ‘vast network’ through which to sexually exploit more children, by paying his victims to recruit other minors.
The DA has previously vehemently denied showing favorability to any defendants wealth or social status, adding that any such claim is ‘simply wrong and is inconsistent and opposite to what I believe in and to what the lawyers office believe in’
His team faced renewed criticism this week for their decision in 2008, after the billionaire pleaded not guilty to additional charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy after his arrest at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey Saturday
One of Vance’s challengers for the role of Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, lambasted the position’s current occupant on Wednesday and his perceiving kid-glove treatment of Epstein and other affluent defendants.
‘It’s long past time for District Attorney Vance to end his silence and explain why his office went to court to reduce the sex offender status of Jeffrey Epstein,’ said Bragg, a professor at New York Law School in a press conference.
‘Why did the DA’s office ignore a confidential state assessment that deemed Epstein to be highly dangerous? Which lawyers for Mr. Epstein approached the office to have his offender status reduced?
‘It’s not enough to send a spokesman out to say ‘our prosecutor made a mistake’ in a case of this seriousness and magnitude. Manhattan residents deserve to hear from the DA himself on how this egregious decision was made.’
An indictment publicly released on Monday claims that Epstein ‘sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls’ between 2002 and 2005, in two of his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida
Protesters from NYU came out to Federal Court House with Jeffrey Epstein pictures to demonstrate on July 8
Alexander Acosta, who was the US attorney in Florida during Epstein’s 2008 trial, also fell victim to fierce criticism this week.
Acosta helped to broker the so-called ‘sweetheart’ deal for Epstein, reducing what could have been a sentence of life in prison to just 13 months on state solicitation charges, rather than federal.
But in-spite of the calls for him to step down from his current position as Labor Secretary, Acosta pushed back.
‘With the evidence available more than a decade ago, federal prosecutors insisted that Epstein go to jail, register as a sex offender and put the world on notice that he was a sexual predator,’ Acosta said.
‘Now that new evidence and additional testimony is available, the [New York] prosecution offers an important opportunity to more fully bring him to justice.’