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8 The Virgin Islands Daily News Justice Department opens Epstein probe The Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Justice Department has opened an investigation into federal prosecu- tors’ handling ofa plea deal in whicha wealthy, politically connected Virgin Islands financier avoided potentially severe penalties for sexually abusing teenage girls in favor of a relatively light state conviction in Florida. The — depart- ments Office of Professional Responsibility wrote in a letter Wednesday to US. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebras- he ka, that it would examine whether wih — professional mis- Jeffrey Epstein conduct occurred in the highly publi- cized case of Jeffrey Epstein. The let- ter cited a series of recent articles by the Miami Herald that focused new attention on how the deal came about. Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who has twice asked the Justice Department to in- vestigate the case, welcomed the news. “Jeffrey Epstein is a child rapist and there’s not a single mom or dad in America who shouldn’t be horrified by the fact that he received a patheti- cally soft sentence,’ Sasse said in an email. “The victims of Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring deserve this inves- tigation — and so do the American people and members of law enforce- ment who work to put these kinds of monsters behind bars.” Epstein, who also has homes in Palm Beach, Fla., and New York, lives on Little St. James Island off St. Thomas. Epstein, now 66, reached a non- prosecution deal in 2008 with then- Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta’s office to secretly end a fed- eral sex abuse investigation involving at least 40 teenage girls that could have landed him behind bars for life. He instead pleaded guilty to state charges, spent 13 months in jail, paid settlements to victims and is a regis- tered sex offender. Acosta, now President Donald Trump’s labor secretary, has defend- ed the deal as appropriate but has not commented since the recent round of stories. He was asked about the case during his Senate confirmation hear- ings for the Cabinet post. Some of his accusers are pursuing a separate legal effort to nullify the plea agreement. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031171