Billionaire financier charged with molesting dozens of girls

NEW YORK — Eleven years after letting Jeffrey Epstein off lightly with a secret deal, federal prosecutors took another run at putting the billionaire financier behind bars on sex charges, accusing him in an indictment unsealed Monday of abusing dozens of underage girls as young as 14.

The 66-year-old hedge fund manager who once hobnobbed with some of the world's most powerful people was charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy and could get up to 45 years in prison.

Epstein, who was arrested over the weekend, faced an afternoon court appearance on the charges in New York. Prosecutors said they would seek to keep him in jail while he awaits trial, contending he might flee if released on bail.

Epstein was accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York from 2002 through 2005.

He "intentionally sought out minors and knew that many of his victims were in fact under the age of 18," prosecutors said. He also allegedly paid some of his victims to recruit additional girls.

"In this way, Epstein created a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit in locations including New York and Palm Beach," prosecutors said.

US Attorney Geoffrey Berman of New York said that the non-prosecution agreement that spared Epstein from a heavy prison sentence on similar allegations a decade ago is binding only on federal prosecutors in Florida, where the deal was made, not on authorities in New York.

"While the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly important to the many alleged victims — now young women," Berman said. "They deserve their day in court. We are proud to be standing up for them by bringing this indictment."

The federal prosecutor urged other possible victims to contact the FBI.

Berman said agents searched Epstein's Manhattan mansion after arrest and found nude photographs of what appeared to be underage girls.

Prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of Epstein's mansion, a three-story, 21,000-square-foot townhouse less than a block from Central Park. The home, formerly a prep school, is across the street from a home owned by Bill Cosby.

Epstein's lawyer did not respond to repeated messages seeking comment.

Epstein, whose friends have included President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Britain's Prince Andrew, was arrested Saturday at an airport in New Jersey, just outside New York City, after his private jet touched down from France. He was being held at the federal lockup in Manhattan.

Berman said prosecutors will oppose his release on bail.

"He has enormous wealth. The charges are very serious and carry with them a maximum sentence of 45 years, which to someone of Epstein's age is basically a life sentence," Berman said, "so we think he has every incentive to try and flee the jurisdiction."

Epstein's arrest came amid increased #MeToo-era scrutiny of the 2008 non-prosecution deal that allowed Epstein to maintain his jet-set lifestyle that includes a Bentley and homes in Paris and the US Virgin Islands.

Under the once-secret deal — overseen by Alexander Acosta, who was the US attorney in Miami at the time and is now Trump's labor secretary — Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting and procuring a person under 18 for prostitution. He avoided a possible life sentence and served 13 months in jail.

The deal also required that he reach financial settlements with dozens of his alleged victims and register as a sex offender.

Acosta has defended the agreement as appropriate, though the White House said in February that it was looking into his handling of the case.

The new charges were brought by the public corruption unit within the US attorney's office in New York. Berman would not comment on why that was so, and he cautioned against reading anything into it.

The non-prosecution agreement, examined in detail in a series of stories in The Miami Herald, is being challenged in federal court in Florida. A federal judge ruled earlier this year that Epstein's victims should have been consulted under the law about the agreement, and he is now weighing whether to invalidate it.

Federal prosecutors recently filed court papers in the Florida case contending the deal must stand.

"The past cannot be undone; the government committed itself to the NPA, and the parties have not disputed that Epstein complied with its provisions," prosecutors wrote in the filing.

It was not immediately clear whether that case and the new charges involved the same victims, since nearly all have remained anonymous.

Epstein's guilty plea involved only state crimes, while the current case involves federal law. As a result, his constitutional protection against double jeopardy does not apply.

According to court records in Florida, authorities say at least 40 underage girls were brought into Epstein's Palm Beach mansion for sexual encounters after being recruited around the world.

AP