WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Florida prosecutors heard graphic testimony about how the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted teenage girls two years before they cut a plea deal, according to transcripts released Monday of the 2006 grand jury investigation.
The transcripts were at the center of a court battle for about a decade after media investigations into Epstein’s ties to the rich and the powerful seems to have allowed him to continue to rape and sex traffic teenagers without ever being sent to prison or serving a serious jail term.
The judge's release of the approximately 150 pages came as a surprise as he had scheduled a hearing for next week on when and how to release them. Gov. Ron DeSantis had signed a bill in February allowing the release on Monday or any time thereafter that Circuit Judge Luis Delgado ordered.
The transcripts show that the grand jury heard testimony that Epstein, who was then in his 40s, had raped teenage girls as young as 14 at his Palm Beach mansion. The teenagers testified and told detectives they were also paid to find him more girls.
“The details in the record will be outrageous to decent people,” Delgado wrote in his order. “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.”
After the grand jury investigation, Epstein cut a deal with South Florida federal prosecutors in 2008 that allowed him to escape more severe federal charges and instead plead guilty to state charges of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution. It's long been criticized as too lenient. He was sentenced to 1.5 years in the Palm Beach County jail system, followed by a year of house arrest. He was required to register as a sex offender.
That deal has been widely criticized as too lenient.
According to the transcripts, Palm Beach Police Detective Joe Recarey testified in July 2006 that the initial investigation began when a woman reported in March 2005 that her stepdaughter who was in high school at the time said she received $300 in exchange for “sexual activity with a man in Palm Beach,” Recarey testified.
Another teenager, whose name was redacted in the transcript, told detectives that she was 17 years old when she was approached by a friend who said she could make $200 by providing a massage at Epstein’s home.
At the house, the teen was led to a room by an Epstein assistant, and a short time later, Epstein entered and demanded that she remove her clothes. She complied and started the massage. When Epstein tried touching her, she told him she was uncomfortable. Epstein then told her that he would pay her if she brought other “girls” to his home. She agreed to do so, according to the October 2005 interview with detectives recounted by Recarey.
“And he told her, ‘The younger, the better,’” Recarey said.
When she brought over a 23-year-old friend, Epstein told her that the friend was too old. Over time, the teen brought six friends from her high school over to Epstein’s home, including a 14-year-old girl, the detective said.
Associated Press reporters Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida, Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Stephany Matat in West Palm Beach, Florida, Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama, and Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta contributed to this report.
_______________
Stay up to date with our social media:
WPEC on Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
WPEC on Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Subscribe to WPEC on YouTube:
[ Ссылка ]
WPEC Daily News Digest: [ Ссылка ]_
For more information, visit [ Ссылка ]
Have a news tip? Send it directly to us:
Email us: newstips@cbs12.com
Call the Newsroom: 561.844.1212
WPEC is a FL based station and a CBS Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today.
#CBS12NEWS #WPEC #WestPalmBeach #SouthFlorida
