A millionaire known for associating with celebrities, politicians, billionaires and academic stars, In 2005, the parents of a 14-year-old girl told police in Florida that Epstein had molested their daughter at his Palm Beach home. A police search of the property found photos of girls throughout the house. Epstein pleaded guilty and was convicted in 2008 by a Florida state court of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute. He was convicted of only these two crimes as part of a controversial plea deal, and served almost thirteen months in custody but with extensive work release. Epstein was arrested again on July 6, 2019, on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He died in his jail cell on August 10, 2019.
The medical examiner ruled that his death was a suicide by hanging. Epstein's lawyers have disputed the ruling, and there has been significant public skepticism about the true cause of his death, resulting in numerous conspiracy theories. Since Epstein's death precluded the possibility of pursuing criminal charges against him, a judge dismissed all criminal charges on August 29, 2019.Epstein had a decades-long association with the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, leading to her 2021 conviction on U.S. federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy for helping him procure girls, including a 14-year-old, for child sexual abuse and prostitution.
On Wednesday, a 950-page court document revealing the names of some of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates was made public. The documents were part of a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and accomplice. The court documents included excerpts of depositions and motions from Giuffre’s case against Maxwell, which was settled in 2017. Giuffre had accused Maxwell of defaming her by calling her a liar. Giuffre had also alleged that Maxwell and Epstein coerced her into having sex with Prince Andrew of Britain when she was 17 years old. Among the names that were unsealed in the court documents were some eminent faces, such as former US president Bill Clinton, pop star Michael Jackson, Prince Andrew and illusionist David Copperfield. These names had previously been redacted as J Doe variants in the court papers. The release of the documents is one of several batches of filings in Giuffre’s civil case that were unsealed after the Miami Herald’s persistent campaign to make them public. According to multiple sources, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska will soon be releasing more names believed to be associated with the registered sex offender, who died by suicide.