Jeffrey Epstein case: judge releases investigation transcripts

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL –

A Florida judge on Monday afternoon released the transcripts of a 2006 grand jury investigation into sex trafficking and rape charges against the late millionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The judge’s release of about 150 pages came as a surprise because he had scheduled a hearing next week on when and how to release them. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation in February allowing the release on Monday or any later date ordered by U.S. District Judge Luis Delgado.

“The details in the records will be outrageous to decent people,” Delgado wrote in his order. “The testimony presented by the Grand Jury ranges from grossly inadmissible conduct to rape — all of the conduct discussed is sexually perverted, disgusting and criminal.”

After a grand jury investigation, Epstein struck a deal with federal prosecutors in South Florida in 2008 that allowed him to avoid more serious federal charges and instead plead guilty to state charges of soliciting a person under 18 for prostitution and soliciting prostitution. He was sentenced to 1.5 years in the Palm Beach County Jail, followed by a year of house arrest. He had to register as a sex offender.

That deal was widely criticized as too lenient. In 2018, Epstein was charged with federal sex trafficking offenses in New York — where he also had a residence that was the scene of violence — after the Miami Herald published a series of articles that brought the case back into the public eye, including interviews with some of the victims who had civil lawsuits against him. Federal officials say Epstein was 66 when he committed suicide in August 2019 in a New York jail cell.

In his order, Delgado called Epstein “the most infamous pedophile in American history.”

“For nearly 20 years, the story of how Jeffrey Epstein harmed some of Palm Beach County’s most vulnerable residents has been the subject of great outrage and, at times, diminished the public’s perception of the criminal justice system,” Delgado wrote.

“Epstein is indeed famous and infamous, and it is widely reported that he flaunted his wealth by cavorting with politicians, billionaires and even the British royal family,” he continued. “It is understandable that given these reports, the public is very curious about what was widely believed to be reported by news (agencies) as ‘special treatment’ in connection with his prosecution.”

The Associated Press is currently reviewing the transcripts.