Jeffery Epstein - The Saga - 5

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The immunity agreement and his lenient treatment were the subject of ongoing public dispute. The Palm Beach police chief accused the state of giving him preferential treatment, and the Miami Herald said U.S. Attorney Acosta gave Epstein "the deal of a lifetime". Following Epstein's arrest in July 2019, on sex trafficking charges, Acosta resigned as Secretary of Labor effective July 19, 2019.

How teen runaway Virginia Roberts became one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims Perversion of Justice, Miami Herald, November 30, 2018. On February 6, 2008, an anonymous Virginia woman filed a $50 million civil lawsuit in federal court against Epstein, saying that when she was a 16-year-old minor in 2004–2005, she was "recruited to give Epstein a massage". She claims she was taken to his mansion, where he exposed himself and had sexual intercourse with her, and paid her $200 immediately afterward. A similar $50 million suit was filed in March 2008, by a different woman, who was represented by the same lawyer. These and several similar lawsuits were dismissed. All other lawsuits have been settled by Epstein out of court. Epstein made many out-of-court settlements with alleged victims.

A December 30, 2014, federal civil suit was filed in Florida by Jane Doe 1 (Courtney Wild) and Jane Doe 2 against the United States for violations of the Crime Victims' Rights Act by the U.S. Department of Justice's NPA with Epstein and his limited 2008 state plea. There was a later unsuccessful effort to add Virginia Roberts (Jane Doe 3) and another woman (Jane Doe 4) as plaintiffs to that case. The addition accused Alan Dershowitz of sexually abusing a minor, Jane Doe 3, provided by Epstein. The allegations against Dershowitz were stricken by the judge and eliminated from the case because he said they were outside the intent of the suit to re-open the plea agreement. A document filed in court alleges that Epstein ran a "sexual abuse ring", and lent underage girls to "prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known prime minister, and other world leaders".

This long-running lawsuit is pending in federal court, aimed at vacating the federal plea agreement on the grounds that it violated victims' rights. On April 7, 2015, Judge Kenneth Marra ruled that the allegations made by alleged victim Virginia Roberts against Prince Andrew had no bearing on the lawsuit by alleged victims seeking to reopen Epstein's non-prosecution plea agreement with the federal government; the judge ordered that allegation to be struck from the record. Judge Marra made no ruling as to whether claims by Roberts are true or false. Though he did not allow Jane Does 3 and 4 to join the suit, Marra specifically said that Roberts may later give evidence when the case comes to court.

On February 21, 2019, in the case of the Two Jane Does v. United States, Senior Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Kenneth Marra said federal prosecutors violated the law by failing to notify victims before they allowed him to plead guilty to only the two Florida offenses. The judge left open what the possible remedy could be. 

Where are they now? The biggest players in the Jeffrey Epstein case Perversion of Justice, The Miami Herald, November 29, 2018. In January 2015, a 31-year-old American woman, Virginia Roberts (now Virginia Giuffre), alleged in a sworn affidavit that at the age of 17, she had been held as a sex slave by Epstein. She further alleged that he and the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell had trafficked her to several people, including Prince Andrew and retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz. Roberts also claimed that Epstein, Maxwell and others had physically and sexually abused her. Roberts alleged that the FBI may have been involved in a cover-up. She said she had served as Epstein's sex slave from 1999 to 2002, and had recruited other underage girls. Prince Andrew, Epstein, and Dershowitz all denied having had sex with Roberts. Dershowitz took legal action over the allegations. Roberts filed a defamation suit against Dershowitz, claiming he purposefully made "false and malicious defamatory statements" about her. A diary purported to belong to Roberts was published online. Epstein entered an out-of-court settlement with Roberts, as he had done in several other lawsuits.] The BBC television series Panorama planned an investigation of these claims. As of 2016, these accusations had not been tested in any court of law.  

As a result of Giuffre's allegations and Maxwell's comments about them, Giuffre sued Maxwell for defamation in September 2015. After much legal confrontation, the case was settled under seal in May 2017. The Miami Herald, other media, and Alan Dershowitz filed to have the documents about the settlement unsealed. After the judge dismissed their request, the matter was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 

Reference: Wikipedia