Florida prosecutors were aware of Jeffrey Epstein's sexual assaults on teenage girls two years before they negotiated a controversial plea deal, according to newly released grand jury transcripts from 2006. The documents reveal graphic testimony about Epstein's abuse, highlighting significant prosecutorial failures that allowed the financier to escape severe federal charges.
The transcripts, which span approximately 150 pages, were made public on Monday after a prolonged court battle. They show that the grand jury in Palm Beach County heard detailed accounts of Epstein, then in his 40s, raping teenage girls as young as 14 at his Palm Beach mansion. The grand jury's proceedings have been scrutinized for years, with media investigations revealing Epstein's ties to powerful individuals seemingly shielding him from more serious consequences.
Circuit Judge Luis Delgado, who ordered the release of the transcripts, described the contents as "outrageous to decent people." He noted, "The testimony taken by the Grand Jury concerns activity ranging from grossly unacceptable to rape-all of the conduct at issue is sexually deviant, disgusting, and criminal."
The initial investigation into Epstein began in March 2005 when a woman reported that her high school-aged stepdaughter had received $300 for engaging in sexual activity with Epstein. Palm Beach Police Detective Joe Recarey testified that another teenager, then 17, was recruited by a friend to provide a massage to Epstein for $200. This teen, and others, were eventually coerced into bringing additional young girls to Epstein, who preferred them to be as young as possible.
"The more you did, the more money you made," Recarey quoted the teenager as saying. She recounted bringing friends, including a 14-year-old, to Epstein's home, likening herself to Hollywood Madame Heidi Fleiss.
Despite the shocking nature of the evidence presented, the grand jury indicted Epstein on only one count of felony solicitation of prostitution, a charge typically reserved for soliciting adult sex workers. This outcome, critics argue, grossly underrepresented the severity and scope of Epstein's crimes.
The 2008 plea deal allowed Epstein to plead guilty to state charges of procuring a minor for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution, resulting in a 13-month sentence in the Palm Beach County jail with work release privileges, followed by a year of house arrest. This arrangement has been widely condemned as excessively lenient, allowing Epstein to continue his predatory behavior for years.
The Palm Beach Post's investigation revealed that then-Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer's office failed to interview any of the victims and ceased regular communication with police once Epstein's high-profile defense attorneys got involved. Prosecutor Lanna Belohlavek even undermined the testimony of a 14-year-old victim by referencing her MySpace page, which depicted drinking, drugs, and simulated sex.
Grand jury transcripts show that during the proceedings, a juror questioned the young victim about her awareness of the wrongdoing and its impact on her reputation. The victim, who was 16 at the time of her testimony, admitted she knew her actions were wrong and that she now understood she had committed a crime.
Judge Delgado's release of the transcripts underscores the public's lingering distrust in the criminal justice system's handling of 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.
Epstein's arrest on federal sex trafficking charges in New York in 2018, following a series of investigative articles by the Miami Herald, reignited public outrage. Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell in August 2019, according to federal officials.
