Prosecutors knew Epstein raped teens prior to deal
Disturbing transcripts shine new light on acts
Florida prosecutors heard graphic testimony about how the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted teenage girls two years before they agreed a plea deal, according to transcripts released on Monday of the 2006 grand jury investigation.
The transcripts were at the centre of a court battle for a decade following media investigations into how Epstein’s ties to the rich and powerful seem to have allowed him to continue to rape and sex-traffic underage girls without serving a serious jail term.
The judge’s release of the approximately 150 pages came as a surprise as he had scheduled a hearing for next week on when and how to release them.
Governor Ron DeSantis had signed a bill in February allowing the release on Monday or any time thereafter that circuit judge Luis Delgado ordered.
According to the transcripts, the grand jury heard testimony that Epstein – then in his 40s – had raped teenage girls as young as 14 at his Palm Beach mansion. The teenagers testified and told detectives they were paid to find him more girls.
“The details in the record will be outrageous to decent people,” Judge Delgado wrote in his order.
Epstein cut a deal with South Florida federal prosecutors in 2008 that allowed him to escape more severe federal charges and instead plead guilty to state charges of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution.
He was sentenced to 18 months in the Palm Beach County jail system, followed by a year of house arrest.
According to the transcripts, Palm Beach Police detective Joe Recarey testified in July 2006 that the initial investigation began in March 2005.
A woman reported that her stepdaughter, who was in high school, said she received $300 in exchange for “sexual activity with a man in Palm Beach”, Det Recarey testified.
Another teenager, whose name was redacted, told detectives that she was 17 when she was approached by a friend who said she could make $200 by providing a massage at Epstein’s home.
At the house, the teenager was led to a room by an Epstein assistant, and a short time later, Epstein entered and demanded that she remove her clothes. She complied and started the massage.
When Epstein tried touching her, she told him she was uncomfortable. Epstein then told her that he would pay her if she brought other “girls” to his home. She agreed to do so.
“And he told her, ‘The younger, the better’,” Det Recarey said.
Over time, the teen brought six friends over to Epstein’s home, including a 14-year-old, the detective said. She got $200 every time she brought a friend and a rental car paid by Epstein.
“The more you did, the more money you made,” the detective said the teenager told him.
In 2018, Epstein was charged with federal sex trafficking crimes in New York. He was 66 when he killed himself in a New York City jail cell in 2019.
Judge Delgado in his order called Epstein “the most infamous paedophile in American history”.