Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein
Palm Beach County Judge Luis Delgado ordered the unsealing of grand jury records related to the infamous Jeffrey Epstein case on Monday.
Earlier this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that would enable the release of grand jury documents related to the 2006 investigation of sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
For context, in July 2006, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) initiated an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier, under the codename “Operation Leap Year.“ The probe culminated in a 53-page indictment by June 2007, exposing the depths of Epstein’s alleged sex crimes involving minors.
However, Alexander Acosta, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida at the time, brokered a plea deal. This agreement, negotiated with the assistance of attorney Alan Dershowitz, effectively granted Epstein immunity from all federal criminal charges, along with four named co-conspirators and any potential unnamed accomplices.
The Miami Herald reported that the non-prosecution agreement “essentially shut down an ongoing FBI probe” into the possibility of more victims and powerful individuals involved in Epstein’s crimes. The deal, which was kept secret from the victims in violation of federal law, halted further investigations and sealed the indictment.
Acosta later justified the leniency of the deal by claiming he was informed that Epstein “belonged to intelligence” and that the issue was above his “pay grade,” the Daily Beast reported.
On Monday, Palm Beach County Judge Luis Delgado unsealed long-contested grand jury records after persistent legal efforts by the Palm Beach Post, alongside other major media outlets such as the Miami Herald.
The court documents reveal that Epstein, who was in his 40s at the time, had raped girls as young as 14 in his Palm Beach residence. The victims also testified that they were also compensated to recruit additional girls for him.
Miami Herald reported:
The records contain nearly 200 pages, including the testimony of two girls who were molested by Epstein, the New York financier who abused hundreds of underage girls at his Palm Beach mansion between 1996 and 2008. Epstein managed to escape serious charges, in part because the Palm Beach prosecutor at the time, Barry Krischer, elected to charge him with minor prostitution and solicitation rather than bringing a felony sexual assault case.
Both Krischer and the lead prosecutor in the case, Lanna Belohlavek, told Palm Beach police that they didn’t intend to prosecute Epstein because they believed the girls were prostitutes. But Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter and the lead detective, Joe Recarey, both protested the decision, noting that the victims were as young as 14 and that Epstein, who was in his 50s, had used fraud and coercion to lure the girls to his home on the pretense that they would be paid to give him massages.
The records released Monday were transcripts of audio recordings of the testimony given before a grand jury convened in 2006. Although grand juries are normally convened for murder cases, Krischer took the unusual step of presenting the case to a grand jury because he was unwilling to allow Palm Beach police to arrest and file charges against the powerful and politically connected Epstein.
The actual audio recordings of the proceeding were not released to the public Monday. The Miami Herald requested the recordings, but was told that they were not available. The transcripts also seem to be missing key elements that would normally be part of a grand jury proceeding. For example, there is no record that Belohlavek introduced herself to the panel, explained what the case was about or told the jury what they were supposed to do. There’s no closing statement summarizing the case or any documentation of what the grand jury ultimately decided.
What is clear is that Belohlavek painted an unsympathetic portrait of the girls, both of whom came from broken families. One of the girls and her sister had been passed back and forth between parents and were taken to a school for troubled juveniles. The girl ran away several times before meeting a group of older kids, one of whom brought her to Epstein’s mansion.
According to the transcripts, Palm Beach Police Detective Joe Recarey testified in July 2006 about the initial investigation into Epstein. The probe began in March 2005 when a woman reported her high school-aged stepdaughter had received $300 for “sexual activity with a man in Palm Beach,” First Coast News reported.
Another teenager, whose name was redacted in the transcript, told detectives she was 17 when she was offered $200 to provide a massage at Epstein’s home. Once there, she was asked by Epstein to undress. When Epstein made unwanted advances, she expressed her discomfort. However, Epstein then proposed paying her to bring other girls to his home. He made it clear that he preferred them younger.
The teenager brought six friends from her high school to Epstein’s home over time, including a 14-year-old girl. She received $200 each time she brought a friend and was also provided a rental car paid for by Epstein.
Judge Delgado’s order highlights the public anger and frustration surrounding Epstein’s case. “For almost 20 years, the story of how Jeffrey Epstein victimized some of Palm Beach County’s most vulnerable has been the subject of much anger and has at times diminished the public’s perception of the criminal justice system,” Delgado wrote.
Read the grand jury testimony below:
The post Almost 200 Pages of Epstein Grand Jury Documents Released — Transcript Shows Epstein Raped Teenage Girls as Young as 14 at His Palm Beach Mansion. appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.