Prosecutors behind Jeffrey Epstein plea deal selected an older victim, 16, easing restrictions

The plea deal that Jeffrey Epstein agreed to back in 2008 saved the accused child rapist from having to register as a sex offender in 31 of 50 states.

The Washington Post reports that the victim who Epstein admitted to soliciting for prostitution was not the 14-year-old girl who first reported the millionaire money manager, but rather another girl, 16, whose age was left blank on court documents. 

That victim’s age means that Epstein did not have to register as a sex offender in states like New Mexico, where he owns a 7,600-acre property called Zorro Ranch, and allows him to be classified as a low risk offender in the US Virgin Islands, which is currently his primary residence. 

This revelation comes one month after a federal judge ruled that then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta violated the rights of Epstein’s alleged victims when they neglected to notify them that they were no longer pursuing federal charges.

That was another part of the deal, which in addition to allowing Epstein to have work release and live in a low-security facility also agreed to drop a federal probe into the millionaire moneyman.

Now Acosta – who is currently the Secretary of Labor and had been mentioned as a possible candidate for attorney general – and others are again coming under fire for allegedly catering to the man who donated millions to the Clintons and hosted President Trump at his Manhattan townhouse while keeping his victims in the dark. 

 

Allegations: Jeffrey Epstein (above in NYC on February 2) entered a guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from a teenager who was 16, which is the age in consent in 31 states

Epstein did not have to register as a sex offender in states like New Mexico, where he owns a 7,600-acre property called Zorro Ranch, and allows him to be classified as a low risk offender in the US Virgin Islands, which is currently his primary residence. He is seen above in NYC on February 2 

‘They were cutting a plea deal. It wasn’t a prosecution,’ said attorney Spencer Kuvin, who represented the 14-year-old girl who alerted police. 

‘They had a grab bag of 40 girls to choose from.’

He then revealed that he and his client believed they had been the victim referenced in the plea deal.

‘It’s unbelievably upsetting,’ said Kuvin.

‘The rug has been swiped out from under the one girl who was brave enough to come forward and break this thing.’ 

Under fire: He was prosecuted by Alex Acosta (right with President Trump), who is currently the Secretary of Labor and had been mentioned a possible pick to replace Jeff Sessions as Attorney General

Under fire: He was prosecuted by Alex Acosta (right with President Trump), who is currently the Secretary of Labor and had been mentioned a possible pick to replace Jeff Sessions as Attorney General

Jeffrey Epstein is pictured above last month arriving at West Palm Beach International airport ready for a flight

Epstein grabbed his luggage from the vehicle

Jeffrey Epstein was seen recently in these photos obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. He is pictured above last month arriving at West Palm Beach International airport ready for a flight

Questions about Epstein’s deal started to surface after a series of lawsuits were filed by two of his alleged victims. 

The women, identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, claim in court papers that they were unaware of the secret deal being made between the defense team and prosecutors back in 2007 that guaranteed federal charges would not be brought against Epstein, 63, which could have resulted in a lengthy prison sentence for the millionaire.

They filed their lawsuit a few months after Epstein received his lenient sentence in 2008, with their lawyers saying the U.S. Attorney’s Office violated the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act by not speaking with Epstein’s victims about the details of his plea agreement.

The two victims who filed the suit were 13 and 14 at the time of the abuse. 

This filing contained more than 140 exhibits including emails between Epstein’s defense team, the U.S. Attorney’s office and former State Attorney Barry Krischer, which lawyers believe clearly show that victims were being left in the dark.

Judgment day: Just last month, a judge ruled prosecutors violated the rights of Epstein's alleged victims when they neglected to tell them no federal charges would be pursued (Epstein in 2008 after entering his guilty plea)

Judgment day: Just last month, a judge ruled prosecutors violated the rights of Epstein’s alleged victims when they neglected to tell them no federal charges would be pursued (Epstein in 2008 after entering his guilty plea)

Bradley Edwards and Paul Cassell, who filed on behalf of the women, previously stated that they hoped U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra would not force the case to go to trial but rather given what they believe is overwhelming evidence rule in the favor of the two victims.

‘There is good reason to believe that if the prosecutors had exposed their dealings to scrutiny by Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2 and other victims, they would not have reached such a sweetheart plea deal,’ the motion reads.

‘Despite the fact that this case has been in litigation for more than seven years, spanning several hundred pleadings, the government does not write even a single sentence explaining why it entered into an NPA (non-prosecution agreement) with a sex offender who had committed hundreds of federal sex offenses against young girls.’

The motion also says that the deal Epstein received is ‘one of the most extraordinarily lenient plea arrangements in American history’.

Epstein settled both of these suits back in December before the victims would be able to testify in court. 

Police in Palm Beach turned over the information they had gathered on Epstein’s victims to federal authorities in November 2006 after investigating the case for roughly a year following an initial call in March 2005 from a woman who claimed her daughter, 14, had been paid $300 to give Epstein a massage in just her underwear.

Local authorities also filed a probable cause affidavit in May 2006 saying they believed there was enough evidence to charge Epstein with four counts of unlawful sex with minors and one count of molestation.

In the end, these charges were taken to a grand jury despite the recommendation of police, who came back with just one charge against Epstein – felony solicitation of prostitution. 

On June 30, 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to a single state charge of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution, and ultimately served just 13 months of his 18-month sentence.

That time was served not in a prison, but rather the Palm Beach Stockade, which is a local detention center.

Epstein was also allowed to leave six days a week to go work out of his West Palm Beach office during his time behind bars.

After his release he did have to register as a sex offender.

Victim: Virginia Roberts Giuffre is one of the 40 women who alleges Epstein abused her. She holds a photo of herself at age 16, when she said the abuse begun (above). Giuffre filed a lawsuit in 2015 against Epstein’s right-hand woman Ghislaine Maxwell

Victim: Virginia Roberts Giuffre is one of the 40 women who alleges Epstein abused her. She holds a photo of herself at age 16, when she said the abuse begun (above). Giuffre filed a lawsuit in 2015 against Epstein’s right-hand woman Ghislaine Maxwell

Heartbroken: 'He had no repercussions and doesn't even believe he did anything wrong,' said alleged victim Michelle Licata (above)

Heartbroken: ‘He had no repercussions and doesn’t even believe he did anything wrong,’ said alleged victim Michelle Licata (above)

More of his alleged victims spoke out about the abuse late last year. ‘He had no repercussions and doesn’t even believe he did anything wrong,’ said Michelle Licata who claims he started abusing her when she was 16.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre filed a lawsuit in 2015 against Epstein’s right-hand woman Ghislaine Maxwell. 

It was settled in 2017 after she claimed Maxwell recruited her at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, to be a masseuse for Epstein. 

Giuffre claimed she was abused by both Maxwell and Epstein along with other girls. 

Shortly after Esptein’s release his butler Alfredo Rodriguez – whose duties included washing sex toys he would find scattered on the floor of Epstein’s many houses according to reports – also received an 18-month prison sentence on an obstruction charge when it was discovered that he had been trying to sell a journal in which he recorded his boss’ activities.

DailyMail.com revealed that Rodriguez kept a black book of Epstein’s contacts — which he referred to as ‘The Holy Grail’ or ‘Golden Nugget’. 

The dozens of entries included contact details for A-list names including former President Bill Clinton, Mick Jagger, Donald Trump, Earl Spencer, Barbara Walters, Henry Kissinger and at least three members of the Kennedy clan.

Court papers state that Rodriguez argued that he needed to keep the journal as insurance – as he feared Epstein would make him ‘disappear’.

Court papers also reveal that Rodriguez witnessed nude girls whom he believed were underage at the pool area of the home and knew that his former employer was engaging in sexual contact with underage girls and had viewed pornographic images of underage girls on his home computers.

U.S. District Judge Marra, who is the same man being asked to consider this current lawsuit, said when he was sentencing Rodriguez for obstruction; ‘If this book had been produced when requested, Mr. Epstein’s sentence may have been significantly different.’

This new filing claims that Epstein – who was facing up to 15 years in prison on that one conviction – was able to get his ‘sweetheart deal’ due to the pressure his legal team placed on State Attorney Krischer and U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, both of whom have since left those positions.

Epstein’s team was made up of some of the country’s most prominent legal minds, including Alan Dershowitz, Roy Black and Kenneth Starr.

Dershowitz later got caught up in some of the allegations as well when he was accused of having sex with an underage girl procured by Epstein, something he strongly denied and said was completely false.

The defense team, U.S. Attorney and State Attorney ‘were conferring daily’ according to this new court filing, with Epstein’s team working to get him immunity from federal charges by paying restitution to the victims.

Epstein then signed a non-prosecution agreement in September 2007, meaning he would only be facing state charges for his crimes.

The victims where never notified of this non-prosecution agreement over the course of the next nine months according to the filing, though many did begin to receive restitution after being identified as victims by the government – including Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2.

One of the victim’s attorneys, Edwards, also claims that he was led to believe that federal charges would still be filed as of June 2008, just days before Epstein pleaded guilty to the one state charge.

The court filing also claims that at this same time the government was working with Epstein about how to keep his victims from ever learning the details of his non-prosecution agreement and how to handle and defend the situation should it ever become public.

Epstein now splits his time between his townhouse in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, his Palm Beach mansion and a U.S. Virgin Islands property in Little Saint James.

He has never been married.

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk