The Palm Beach Post obtained the grand jury transcripts in Jeffrey Epstein’s initial investigation, revealing that prosecutors made a lenient plea deal with the disgraced financier despite hearing disturbing testimony. Testimony indicated that Epstein had raped girls as young as 14 and paid them to recruit others.
In 2006, a detective testified in front of the grand jury that more girls were brought to Epstein’s house by their friends for financial gain. One teenager said she visited Epstein’s house hundreds of times starting at 16 and was paid for nude massages. She revealed that she was given $1,000 after Epstein raped her. Despite police believing there were more victims, State Attorney Barry Krischer held the grand jury proceedings behind closed doors, undermining the case.
Despite this, Krischer was able to secure a plea deal with Epstein in 2008, avoiding federal charges and pleading guilty to lesser state charges. He served 1.5 years in jail and was allowed to leave for work release six days a week. However, this did not stop the Palm Beach Post from suing the government to release the grand jury transcripts in 2019.
Epstein was arrested again in 2018 on federal sex trafficking charges and died by suicide in jail due to lapses in jail officials’ monitoring of him. Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s associate, was also arrested and convicted for her role in the sex trafficking ring.