Florida Law Requires Release of Jeffrey Epstein Grand Jury Records Regarding Underage Girl Abuse Investigation

Grand jury transcripts from a 2006 Florida investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of dozens of underage girls will be released publicly later this year under legislation signed into law Thursday by Gov. Ron DeSantis. A local judge cited the new law in denying release of the records for now.

The measure, which takes effect July 1, would carve out a limited exception to the secrecy that generally shrouds grand jury testimony in specific cases such as that involving Epstein, DeSantis said at a signing ceremony in Palm Beach, Florida, where many of the crimes took place at Epstein's home.

“There needs to be a mechanism in some of these rare circumstances where people can get the truth,” the Republican governor said. “This is in the interest of justice to disclose this. We don't think we can just turn a blind eye.”

Epstein, a wealthy financier, cut a deal with South Florida federal prosecutors in 2008 that allowed him to escape more severe federal charges and instead plead guilty to state charges of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in the Palm Beach County jail system, followed by 12 months of house arrest. He was required to register as a sex offender.

Read More: How the #MeToo Movement Helped Make New Charges Against Jeffrey Epstein Possible

“What happened was clearly wrong and the punishment was wholly inadequate for the crime,” DeSantis said.

Epstein in 2018 was charged with federal sex trafficking crimes in New York — where he also had a mansion that was a scene of abuse — after the Miami Herald published a series of articles that renewed public focus on the case, including interviews with some victims who had been pursuing civil lawsuits against him. Epstein was 66 when he killed himself in a New York City jail cell in August 2019, federal officials say.

Epstein’s former girlfriend, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 of luring girls to his homes to be molested.

Read More: What’s the Point of Trying to Understand Ghislaine Maxwell?

Haley Robson, who was victimized by Epstein as a 16-year-old high school student in Florida, said she and others like her are grateful for the closure that release of the grand jury records would mean. The Associated Press does not generally report names of sexual assault victims unless they consent, and Robson appeared at the governor's news conference to share her thoughts publicly.

“I can't express enough how we've all been so affected by all of this,” Robson said. “This is not something we should be forgetting about.”

Although some material could still be edited out, most of the grand jury transcripts should be released fairly soon after the new law's July 1 effective date once a Petition is filed seeking them, DeSantis said.

“I don't think it should take forever and a day,” the governor said.

Read More: The Biggest Names from Jeffrey Epstein’s Unsealed Court Documents

Also Thursday, mentioning the new law, a state judge decided not to release the grand jury records as part of a lawsuit filed by The Palm Beach Post and said he would consider any Petition seeking them once the law takes effect in July. Circuit Judge Luis Delgado said he can't order the release under today's statutes.

“The release of the records will not further justice as our law currently prescribes,” Delgado wrote in a ruling denying that they be made public for now.

While in Palm Beach sheriff’s custody, Epstein was allowed to stay in an isolated cell at the county’s minimum-security stockade, where he roamed freely and watched television. Epstein was also allowed into the county’s work-release program, working from his office on his financial consulting Business and his foundation.

So many questions remain unanswered about how such a lenient punishment was imposed, Robson said.

“Why was Jeffrey Epstein given such grace and mercy for his inhumane crime?” she said. "It’s going to shed light on what I’ve known this entire time.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10 protesters arrested for blocking bus carrying asylum-seekers in New York City

Image
One of the protesters in Staten Island is also accused of assaulting an officer. Protesters flooded the street outside a former senior living facility in Staten Island, temporarily blocking a bus carrying asylum-seekers, after local leaders said they learned it was slated to house New York City’s latest migrant shelter. Ten people were arrested, nine of whom received summonses for disorderly conduct and were released, police said. Vadim Belyakov, 48, was charged with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and obstructing government administration after an officer was injured trying to arrest him, according to police. He will be arraigned in criminal court Wednesday. The police officer was treated for a knee injury. City Councilman David Carr said the city Department of Social Services told him the shelter would be opening at the former Island Shores Senior Living Facility, which brought dozens of residents to protest , and police officers quickly responded to close the street ...
Read more

SEC Approves Landmark Rule Requiring Some Companies to Report Emissions, Climate Risks

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved a rule that will require some public companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, after last-minute revisions that weakened the rule in the face of strong pushback from companies. The rule was one of the most anticipated in recent years from the nation’s top financial regulator, drawing more than 24,000 comments from companies, auditors, legislators and trade groups. It brings the U.S. closer to the European Union and California, which moved ahead earlier with corporate climate disclosure rules. The rule passed 3-2, with three Democratic commissioners supporting it and two Republicans opposed. Read More: Actually, Clean Tech Investment is Still Going Strong Publicly traded companies will be required to say more in their financial statements about the risks climate change poses to their operations and their own contributions to the problem. But the version approved Wednesday was weak...
Read more

40-year-old father falls to his death in front of wife and 5 children on Oregon hiking trail

Image
A hiker was killed over the weekend when he slipped and plummeted down the side of a mountain in front of his wife and five children in Oregon, officials said. A 40-year- old hiker was killed over the weekend when he slipped and plummeted down the side of a mountain in front of his wife and five children near Oregon's Multnomah Falls, officials said. The hiking trail tragedy unfolded about 2 p.m. Saturday about a half-mile from the iconic Benson Bridge, a footbridge near Oregon's tallest waterfall, the 620-foot Mulnomah Falls, authorities said. "Mom, Dad, five kids were all here enjoying a beautiful day. And unfortunately, a tragic accident happened," said John Plock, a spokesman for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. "At one point on the trail, the father slipped and fell and fell down the side of an embankment." Plock said the man, whose name has not been released, fell 100 to 150 feet down the embankment alongside the Columbia River Highway. A...
Read more