Palm Beach editorial alleges prosecutorial leniency in Jeffrey Epstein case

FD-350 (Rev. 5-8-81) @ Mount Clipping in Space Below) (Indicate page, name of newspaper, City and state.) 20B / The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach, FL Date: 8/4/2006 Edition Title: He was over 50 And they were girls Character or Classification: 31E-MM-108062 Submitting Office: He was over 50. And they were girls If the women whom Palm Beach police say a part-time town resident invited to his home and paid for sex acts were, in fact, women, the solicitation charge against Jeffrey Epstein might feel more sufficient. But, according to police records, they weren’t. He was over 50. And they were girls. _ 45. 16. 17-year-old girls. That should count for some- thing — the dit ference between prostitution and pedophilia. So, it is baffling that Mr. Epstein, who was indicted last month by a grand jury on one felony count of solicitation of pros- titution, has not been charged, as Palm Beach police strenuously urged, with unlawful sex acts with a minor and lewd and lascivious molestation. Conviction of crimes against mi- nors would mean steeper penalties than the maximum five-year prison term Mr Epstein faces if convicted of the single count of felony solicita- tion. It also would help carry a mes- sage of intolerance to perverts who prey on girls. Prosecutors did not pursue charg- es against Mr. Epstein reflecting the age of the victims because they assumed a jury would view the girls not as victims but as promiscuous, untrustworthy, willing participants. The presumption is offensive. Mr. Epstein, a 53-year-old Man- hattan money manager who has hired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and defense attor ney Jack Goldberger, has denied knowing how old the girls were. Elisa Cramer Jury should have decided if Epstein is a pedophile. But police interviews with five alleged victims and 17 witnesses under oath, as well as phone mes- sages, a high school transcript and other items that police found from searching Mr. Epstein’s trash and 7,234-square-foot waterfront home, provide evidence that he knew the girls were teenagers. One girl couldn’t show up when Mr. Epstein wanted because she had soccer. Another time, Mr. Ep- stein had to wait for his “massage” session because the girl he wanted was still in class. Why didn’t State Attorney Barry Krischer let a jury decide whether to believe the teenagers — in- cluding a 16-year-old who went to Mr. Epstein’s house to “work” in December 2004 after being asked whether she needed to make money for Christmas gifts? Prosecutors gave greater weight to the details Mr. Dershowitz pro- vided about the girls in an apparent effort to assail their character. Mr. Dershowitz pointed out to prosecu- tors that some of the teenagers had talked on myspace.com about mari- juana and alcohol use. The 20-year-old Royal Palm Beach woman who told police she recruited girls for Mr Epstein has a Web page on myspace.com that features one girl using the name “Pimpin’ Made EZ.” Although no charges of witness tampering have been filed, the par- ents of at least one of the teenage victims complained to police of be- ing followed and intimidated by two men. Police determined that their 1 vehicles were registered to two pri- vate investigators. Mr. Goldberger denied knowing anything about it. Police also note in their reports that the state attorney's office of fered Mr. Epstein a plea deal that would have placed him on proba- tion for five years, allowing him ultimately to walk away with no criminal record at all. I asked Mr. Krischer’s spokes- man, Mike Edmondson, why the case was referred to a grand jury in- ‘stead of Mr. Epstein being charged and facing a trial before a jury. And shouldn’t the victims’ credibility be a factor to determine whether a crime’s been committed, not wheth- er a jury will convict? (After all, as Mr. Goldberger told The Palm Beach Post of Mr. Epstein, “He's never de- nied girls came to the house.”) Especially, I asked Mr. Edmond- son to explain: Why shouldn’t the public look at this case and think there are two kinds of justice — one for the wealthy and one for the rest of us? Mr. Edmondson said he could not comment on the case because it ° is active, but on the latter point, he | offered, for the sake of “philosophi- cal debate”: “Whether wealth buys a different standard of justice across the country ... the answer to that _ would, of course, be yes.” But in this case, he said, “regard- less of the battery of attorneys, the outcome would be the same. Every issue that was debated in public was debated in our office before this case went to the grand jury.” In this case, it is not the victims’ credibility but the state attorney's that deserves questioning. Elisa Cramer is an editorial writer for The Palm Beach Post. Her e-mail address is elisa_cramer@phpost.com wy MM WL ¢ %) BIGMN- [gol - HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_018923