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- -% Jeffrey Epstein, Balronaire ggjopn's Goes Free - The Daily Beast @ Page 4 of 4 private investigators who were then linked to local attorneys in Epsiein’s employ. jn one reporied instance, the private investigator claimed to be a police officer, and Reiter considered filing witness-tampering charges. The credibility of the victims was also an issue; they had never complained of their treatment by Epstein until they were contacted by police, and they may have voluntarily returned to the Palm Beach mansion several times. Many of the girls came from disadvantaged backgrounds or broken homes, and they were susceptible to Epstein’s cash, intimidation, and charm. Those who were 16 when they went to El Brillo Way would have been in their 20s by the time they took the stand, and Epstein’s investigators had dredged up every instance of bad behavior in their pasts. According to an exchange in the Reiter deposition, a few of the victims had worked in West Palm Beach at massage parlors known as “jack shacks.” Each new compromising detail was immediately forwarded to the State Attorney's Office, where staff met frequently with Epsiein's lawyers. The Florida statutes are clear: Any person older than 24 who engages in sexual contact with someone under the age of 18 commits a felony of the second degree. The victim's prior sexual conduct is not relevant; ignorance of her age is no defense. She needn't resist physically to cast doubt on the issue of “consent.” For a child under 16, even lewd behavior short of touching is a felony of the second degree. But convincing a jury that a sexual encounter is a heinous crime is difficult if the victim can be made to appear willing and unharmed, not to mention vulgar and mercenary. It wasn't hard to imagine some of the victims quickly being discredited in court by Epstein’s crack legal team, who repeatedly noted that the age of consent is lower in many other states. But that deesn’t quite explain why the Department of Justice would forge the child-trafficking charges, which pertain regardless of a girl's attitude or character. Epstein’s final sentence is so out of line with the statufory guidelines for that crime that it appears the department may have been influenced by the existence of his many powerful friends and attorneys. A highly intelligent man who once taught math at the Dalton School in New York without a bachelors degree, Epstein has been a serious and respected player in the highest reaches of politics and philanttirapy. He has made substantial contributions to political candidates, served on the Council on Foreign Relations, and donated $30 million to Harvard University. Moreover, many of his high-powered acquaintances availed themselves of Epstein’s private jets, for which the pilot logs, obtained by discovery in the civil suits, sometimes showed that bold-face names were on the same flights as underage girls. A high-profile trial threatened to splash mud over all sorts of big players, just as both Gov. Richardson and Bill Clinton’s wife were running for president. Also, a hedge fund prosecution in which Epstein offered ta give evidence was heating up. Alberto Gonzales, who was U.S. attorney general throughout most of the Epstein investigation and resigned just before the non-prosecution agreement was signed, told The Daily Beast that he “would have instructed the Justice Department to pursue justice without making a political mess.” But that may have been an impossible mandate, given the players involved. Instead, said attorney Brad Edwards, “Epstein committed crimes that should have jailed him for most of his life...he was jailed for only a few months.” And this week he walks through his door a free man. Conchita Samoff has developed multimedia communication programs for Fortune 500 companies and has produced fhree current events debate television programs, The Americas Forum, From Beirut fo Kabul, and a segment for The Oppenheimer Report. She is a contributor to The Huffington Post and is writing a book about child trafficking in America. Get a head start with the Morning Scoop email. It's your Cheat Sheet with must reads from across the Web. Get it. For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com. URL: http:/vww.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-staries/2010-07-20/jeffrey-epstein-billianaire-pedophile-goes-free/p/ P R | N T tate os 03956-1226 http://www .thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-07-20/jeffrey-epstein-billionaire-ped... 7/23/2010 DOJ-OGR-00029045