Victims object to Palm Beach billionaire's plea deal in underage sex case
Issue date : July 12, 2008
Two underage girls who claim to have been sexually abused by Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein appeared in federal court Friday to argue that the government's plea agreement with the investment banker was too lenient and "they had no voice in the process."
"These girls want justice. They want this guy in prison," said attorney Brad Edwards, who represents them in federal civil suits filed against Epstein in February. There are about five suits each asking for $50 million pending in federal court against him.
On June 30, according to a plea agreement struck with the government, Epstein pleaded guilty to procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and felony offer to commit prostitution. The counts stemmed from his involvement with one underage girl.
He faced a maximum of 15 years and was given 18 months.
In court Friday, Edwards told U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra the plea agreement "was worked out behind the victims' backs." Edwards said that part of the confidential agreement was that the federal government would not prosecute Epstein for abusing more victims if he pleaded guilty to abusing one in state court.
"The agreement was that he could plead guilty to abusing one girl in state court so that he wouldn't be prosecuted in federal court for the 100 other girls he molested," Edwards told Marra.
The two girls, identified in court papers as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, did not testify on Friday.
Epstein's attorneys were not present at the hearing which involved federal prosecutors. Edwards invoked a federal crime victims law to raise the issue in federal court, where he wanted Marra to kill the plea agreement. Under the law, victims have a right to confer and Edwards said they were not consulted about the agreement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dexter Lee argued that the federal court did not have jurisdiction and Marra agreed.
Epstein's attorney, Jack Goldberger, could not be reached for comment.
Edwards said that one of his underage clients started visiting Epstein at his sprawling mansion on El Brillo Way when she was 13 to give him massages for $200. Police reports have said that the girls would be escorted to a bedroom with a massage table and that Epstein would enter wearing only a towel and instruct the girls to remove their clothing and massage him. These sessions escalated into touching and other activities, sometimes with sex toys.
Edwards said that when his client turned 14, Epstein told her that she could make $200 for every girl she recruited for the massage sessions. She claimed she recruited 50.
In court, Edwards told Marra: "Mr. Epstein is a billionaire who has sexually abused dozens and dozens of 13- to 17-year-old girls. And because of his deviant appetites and his vast wealth, he might just be the most dangerous sexual predator in the world."
Source : http://www.sun-sentinel.com