Epstein disclosures raise key question: why wasn’t he stopped earlier? | Jeffrey Epstein

HEOver the course of two decades, Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly came onto law enforcement’s radar for sexual abuse involving teenage girls and young women. And during that same time period, Epstein avoided serious and meaningful punishment for his crimes.

The US justice department’s recent disclosure of long-secret investigative files on Epstein has once again raised the question of why he was not arrested sooner despite numerous reports of misconduct. The issue has been the subject of many conspiracy theories, often focusing on the idea that Epstein, who lived at the center of a network of powerful people, enjoyed some form of protection.

Some never-before-seen documents recently released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and previously public files from previous civil cases included in those disclosures, underscore the numerous missed opportunities to stop Epstein before his 2019 arrest and subsequent suicide in prison.

Longtime lawyers told the Guardian there were multiple reasons why this might have occurred.

“The Epstein and Maxwell problem is twofold. First, law enforcement, especially at the local level, does not communicate well with each other,” said Neama Rahmani, founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers and former federal prosecutor. “Second, prosecutors are risk averse and unwilling to prosecute difficult cases.”

Moreover, authorities may view sexual abuse cases as risky propositions for success.

Rahmani stated that prosecutors are always expected to win and said, “Sexual assault and sexual abuse cases are usually ‘he said, she said’ cases where the defense gave consent or sexual intercourse never took place.” “They may be hesitant to try difficult cases, especially against defendants with significant resources.”

“Cynics may also argue that Epstein was not prosecuted because of his friendship with powerful elected officials. Part of this case changed with #MeToo, with more victims coming forward and willing to testify, with more resources and a shift in philosophy when it comes to prosecuting sex crimes,” Rahmani said.

“But this is still not enough and victims are disappointed.”

Indeed, the chronology of Epstein’s repeated remarks and investigations may indicate both a serious lack of communication and a general lack of interest in the complaints against him.

There was Maria Farmer’s 1996 FBI report. Farmer, whose sister Annie was abused by Epstein, told authorities that Epstein “stole” her sisters’ photographs and film negatives and was “believed to have sold the pictures to potential buyers.”

While the case type was listed as “child pornography” in this report, the police did not take action. Unhindered by criminal investigation, Epstein continued to abuse numerous young girls in the following years.

Then came Alicia Arden’s police report in 1997. Arden said of Epstein: groping During an interview where she was supposed to model for Victoria’s Secret.

Arden, who was 27 at the time, said Santa Monica police blamed him instead of taking action. “They said I went into the hotel room willingly and that I was intimidating men because of my appearance. I told the police that I did not consent or allow myself to be touched or for Epstein to take my clothes off. I thought I was going to a legitimate audition.”

Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of aiding Epstein’s abuse of young girls, came to the attention of police in 2001 after becoming close to three college students in Palm Beach. “Maxwell stated that he needed young, beautiful, unmarried women to answer phones and do office work at his home in Palm Beach,” the police report said.

At least one of the students went to the house several times and “identified the phone calls as male calls.”[ing] When they say when they will fall[f] Police launched an investigation, including searching Epstein’s trash for potential evidence, and ultimately concluded that although there was unusual activity at his South Florida mansion, “no illegal activity has been reported or detected at this time.”

Then came 2004. In August of the same year, a taxi driver “flagged” a police officer. The taxi driver dropped off two women, who appeared to be 15 and 17 years old, at a home that investigators determined belonged to Epstein.

“The taxi driver stated that he picked up the women in West Palm Beach and that on the way to Epstein’s house he overheard the women discussing how much money they would make and possible drug use by ‘meeting’ in Palm Beach,” a police report said. he said.

In 2005 and 2006, Palm Beach police interviewed numerous underage victims, and the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office ultimately investigated the abuse allegations. But Epstein’s case was resolved in 2008 with a comfortable plea deal that allowed him to avoid federal charges if he pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges.

Epstein and Maxwell did not disappear. In 2011, an alleged victim of Epstein and again of Maxwell contacted south Florida federal prosecutors.

The woman, Virginia Giuffre, was living in Australia and was interviewed by an FBI agent there. Legal representatives for the late Giuffre, who accused Epstein of selling her out to high-profile men including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, met with a New York federal prosecutor to discuss Epstein.

Mountbatten-Windsor has vehemently denied all allegations of misconduct. The former Duke of York has renounced his royal title amid the Epstein controversy.

That prosecutor did not open an investigation after that meeting.

Epstein did not face serious charges until 2019, months after a Miami Herald investigation sparked controversy over his landmark plea deal. Epstein killed himself in prison weeks after his arrest in July 2019, and Maxwell was arrested the following year and convicted of luring young girls into his abusive world.

Advocates for Epstein’s victims have repeatedly condemned local and federal law enforcement for failing to take victims’ allegations seriously; This caused the abuse to continue years after the initial reports.

Lindsay Richards, criminal defense partner at Coffer and Connelly in Texas, noted communication problems as well as attitudes about sex crimes that were prevalent in the ’90s and 2000s. In the reports given to local law enforcement, “it is very likely that there was no communication whatsoever between the institutions, especially in the 90s.”

On the other hand, he said federal agencies “have always had good communication, especially internally.” “So after it became federal, I was surprised that more wasn’t done.”

The state plea deal “seems a little despicable, in my opinion,” but in his experience as a longtime prosecutor prosecuting sex crimes cases, “I really believe there are a lot of agencies, even agencies that I work with,” he said. [where] “For decades, sexual assaults were ignored.”

He said the attitude of police departments is: “You can report it, but these things are so hard to prove that we’re not really going to spend a lot of time and energy on it.”

John Day, founder of John Day Law and a former prosecutor in New Mexico, noted apparent intelligence failures when it comes to pursuing cases.

“Perhaps the best explanation lies in why all signals regarding bin Laden were ignored until 9/11 – when many law enforcement agencies [and] CIA analysts had it on their radar screens, but the information was never put together in a way that made sense until it was too late? Day said. “Could this be the equivalent for Epstein?”

Day said the investigation failures involving Epstein were not equivalent to the 9/11 attack, but noted that “those time periods are roughly parallel.”

“I guess you could argue that 9/11, their failure to understand what information was indicative of a pending attack was similar to the failure of law enforcement to understand what Epstein and Maxwell were up to.”

But Day also said: “That’s different from understanding why Epstein got such a nice deal with US attorney Alexander Acosta in Florida.”