Jeffrey Epstein cops ‘seized naked photos of underage girls from his £35m New York mansion’ as billionaire faces sex trafficking charges
JEFFREY Epstein cops seized naked pics of underage girls from his £35m New York mansion, court papers show.
The billionaire banker, 66, pleaded not guilty to an array of sex trafficking charges after prosecutors accused him of abusing girls as young as 14 in a "vast network of underage victims."
Epstein - who used to socialise with the likes of Prince Andrew, the Clintons and Donald Trump - appeared in court today to contest the charges.
He showed up wearing a blue jail uniform after spending the night at a federal lock-up in Manhattan.
Prosecutors for the Southern District of New York argued that the mega-rich banker - who has THREE US passports - is a flight risk and will ask for bail to be denied.
He faces up to 45 years in prison if he is found guilty on both counts of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors.
The legal indictment released today details the charges against the financier.
It alleges that Epstein "sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls" at his homes in various locations.
The document claims the 66-year-old would pay girls "hundreds of dollars" to perform sex acts with him and would also pay certain victims "to recruit additional girls to be similarly abused."
'VAST ABUSE NETWORK'
It continues: "In this way, Epstein created a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit in locations including New York and Palm Beach."
The indictment alleges that minors were paid to give the wealthy businessman massages which would typically involve him pleasuring himself.
It also claims officers found "nude photographs of what appeared to be underage girls" at his mansion.
Epstein would also sometimes attempt to touch the girls' genitals with his hands of sex toys, the court docs allege.
Two women who claim the billionaire molested them when they were kids will be in court today.
Courtney Wild was just 14 when she alleges Epstein forced her into performing sex acts on him, ABC News reports.
She said: “I was 14, I had braces on.
“Like, I remember standing in his kitchen ... and he also had a lot of girls there all the time.”
Michelle Licata was aged 16 when she claims she was brought to the banker’s mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, where she was paid to give him a massage.
She said: “He said, god, you're just so beautiful and sexy and gorgeous and it was making me feel really uncomfortable.
I was 14, I had braces on. Like, I remember standing in his kitchen ... and he also had a lot of girls there all the time.”
“Then he wanted me to rub his back, and he kept asking me to go lower and he was kind of talking to me.”
Both Wild and Licata were part of a 2008 criminal case brought against Epstein in Florida – for which the financer spent only 13 months in jail.
Epstein is being held in the Metropolitan Correction Center in Manhattan - the same jail as drug lord El Chapo - which has been called “tougher than Guantánamo Bay.”
In fact, Mexican drugs baron Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, 62, this year complained about going for 27 months without fresh air or sunlight in the strict facility.
Guzman, who has an estimated net worth of $14billion, is paying the price for two escapes from maximum security prisons in his homeland.
'TOUGHER THAN GUANTANAMO'
Dozens of underage girls have been interviewed by the FBI and the NYPD all claiming to have been abused by Epstein.
According to reports, the alleged incidents for which he is being charged are said to have happened between 1999 and 2005.
The former school teacher, who was previously convicted of a similar charge in 2008 involving a 16-year-old girl, used to boast about having the largest home in New York City.
Now, he is being housed in one of the US’ strictest prisons where fluorescent lights are never switched off and inmates experience almost no human interaction.
In 2011, Human Rights charity Amnesty International complained to then Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr that the jail’s conditions amounted to cruel and inhuman treatment, the New York Times reports.
David E. Patton, the executive director of Federal Defenders of New York, said: “The segregated units are horrifying and inhumane.
“If you wanted to intentionally design a place to drive people mad, you’d be hard pressed to do better.”
He continued: “The fluorescent lights are always on.
The segregated units are horrifying and inhumane
“The only sound is the occasional clanking of metal when doors are opened and closed.”
Epstein’s exact net worth is unknown because his wealth is concealed in the US Virgin Islands for tax purpose, according to Forbes.
However he is often referred to as a billionaire and his firm J. Epstein & Co, which is shrouded in secrecy, will reportedly only accept clients with $1bn or more in assets.
In a New York Magazine profile in 2002, a source familiar with Epstein called him a “mysterious, Gatsbyesque figure.”
They added: "He likes people to think that he is very rich, and he cultivates this air of aloofness. The whole thing is weird."
ARREST AND CHARGES
The Daily Beast reported that Epstein will be accused of sexually exploiting dozens of underage girls after paying them cash for "massages".
He allegedly molested or sexually abused the girls at his mansions in New York and Florida.
Last week, Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey after flying in from Paris, according to NBC News.
The Miami Herald reported that a dozen federal agents broke down the door to the banker's Manhattan townhouse to execute search warrants at around the same time.
The arrest comes amid renewed scrutiny of that once-secret deal that ended a federal investigation and allowed Epstein to plead guilty to lesser state charges.
'UNDERAGE GIRLS ABUSED'
In 2008, financier Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting and procuring a person under age 18 for prostitution.
He was sentenced to just 13 months in jail thanks to a sweetheart deal with cops.
However, because of that victim’s age – she was 16 – Epstein did not have to register as a sex offender in states like New Mexico where he owns a sprawling ranch.
He is also classified as a low risk offender in the US Virgin Islands which is his primary residence.
Epstein was required to reach financial settlements with dozens of his once-teenage victims.
On Wednesday, a federal appeals court ordered the unsealing of nearly 2,000 pages of records related to a civil case that may contain lurid claims about Epstein’s sexual history.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling relates to records in a since-settled defamation case after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting in 2008.
DOZENS OF ACCUSERS
Records in the defamation case contained descriptions of sexual abuse by Epstein along with new allegations of sexual abuse by "numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known prime minister and other world leaders."
According to court documents in Florida, authorities say at least 40 underage girls were brought into Epstein's Palm Beach mansion for what turned into sexual encounters.
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Female fixers allegedly looked for suitable girls locally and in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world.
Epstein also has maintained a home in New York, in New Mexico and a private Caribbean island.
According to court documents, some girls were brought to those places as well.
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