Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire who is politically well connected has been arrested in New Jersey over charges of trafficking dozens of underage girls in Florida and New York between 2002 and 2005. The joint action was taken against him on Saturday by FBI-NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force and he will be presented in court on Monday. Federal agents also searched his residence on the upper east side of Manhattan on Saturday evening
The 66 years old billionaire has connections with powerful people including Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. He has been nominated in similar charges earlier as well in 2008. He spent 13 months in jail and paid settlements to at least 40 teenage girls over charges of sexual abuse. In an identical case in 2005, a woman reported to police that her daughter was molested by a wealthy man. Police started investigating the case which was later handed over to the FBI.
FBI had prepared a concrete report against Epstein which could send him to jail for life, but he used his political approach to get a deal with Miami US Attorney Alexandra Acosta and ended up with significantly less punishment. Acosta, who is now labor secretary of President Donald Trump also faced an investigation from the justice department in February this year regarding the said deal.
He is expected to be accused of one charge of sex dealing with minors and one charge of conspiracy to participate in sex dealing of minors. Whenever indicated, he could confront the most extreme sentence of 45 years in jail. One of the authorities said Epstein is blamed for paying underage young girls for massage and molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York. A message was sent to Epstein’s defense lawyer looking for input. Epstein is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, as indicated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons site.
