Epstein case sent to grand jury despite wealth and high‑profile lawyers

Lawyer: Juro® often believe @Mlults over kids > EPSTEIN from 1B his current job, has returned $10,000 to him because of the Palm Beach scandal, the New York Daily News has reported. Rather than file charges, the state attorney’s office presented the case to a county grand jury. The panel indicted Epstein last week on a single, less serious charge of felony solicitation of pros- titution. The case raised eyebrows because the state attorney’s office rarely, if ever, kicks such charges to a grand jury. And it increases the difficulty of prosecuting child sex abuse cases, especially when the defendant is enormously wealthy and can hire high- priced, top-tier lawyers. At least one of Epstein’s alleged victims told police he knew she was underage when the two of them got naked for massages and sex- ual activity. She was 16 years old at the time and said Ep- stein asked her questions about her high school, ac- cording to police reports. A girl who. said she met Epstein when she was 15 said he told her if she told any- body what happened at his house, bad things could hap- pen, the police reports state. Epstein’s youngest al- leged victim was 14 when she says she gave him a massage that included some sexual activity. She is now 16. The girl’s father says he doesn’t know whether she told Ep- stein her age. “My daughter has kept a lot of what happened from me because of sheer embarrass- ment,” he said. “But she very much looked 14. Any prudent man would have had second thoughts about that.” Defense attorney Jack - Goldberger maintains that not only did Epstein pass a polygraph test showing he | did not know the girls were minors, but their stories weren’t credible. The state attorney’s office also implied that their credibility was an issue when it decided not to charge Epstein directly, but instead give the case to the grand jury. “A prosecutor has to look at it in a much broader fash- ion,” a state attorney’s spokesman said last week. Epstein hired Harvard law Professor Alan Der- showitz when.he became aware he was under investi- . gation, and Dershowitz gave prosecutors information that some of the alleged victims had spoke of using alcohol and marijuana on a popular Web site, according to a Palm Beach police report. Prosecutors typically consider two things in decid- ing whether to charge some- body with sex-related offens- es against minors — whether there is sufficient evidence and whether there is a public tnberest in doing so, Dekle said. Child sex abuse cases often are difficult to prosecute, an attorney says. Iftwo teens are in a sexual relationship and the boy turns 18 before the girl, he could be charged with a sex crime if the sex continues. There would be no public in- terest in pursuing that, Dekle said. But where there is a large gap in ages — and especially in cases of teachers with: stu- dents — there is a public in- terestin prosecuting, he said. Likewise if the accused has a track record of sex with mi- nors. Still there is a “universal constant” in prosecuting these cases, Dekle said. Men who exploit underage chil- dren for sex often carefully choose their victims in ways . that will minimize the risk to them, he said. Victims usually are from a lower social status, and they may suffer from psychologi- cal problems, Dekle said. “Lots of child sexual abuse victims have been vic- timized by multiple people over a period of time. Then the act of abuse produces behavior in the victims that further damages their credi- bility.” Examples include promiscuous behavior and drug abuse. Some of the alleced vic- tims in the Epstein case re- turned to his home multiple times for the massage ses- sions and the $200 to $300 he typically paid them per visit. “That would be a definite ‘problem for the prosecutor,” said Betty Resch, who prose- cuted crimes against children in Palm Beach County for five years and now is in private practice in Lake Worth. “The victim becomes less sympathetic” to a jury, Resch said. “But she’s a victim nev- ertheless. She’s a kid.” Most men charged with sex crimes against minors look normal, Dekle said. A jury expecting to see a mon- ster seldom will. And the vic- tims’ ages work against them and in favor of the defendant in a trial, Dekle said. If a child and an adult tell different stories and both swear theyre telling the truth, adult jurors are more likely to believe the adult, Dekle said. “You have all these things working against you ina child sex abuse case. Prosecutors normally try to be very care- ful in filing those cases be- cause they know what they're getting into. There is no such thing as an iron-clad child sexual abuse case.” © lany_keller@pbpost.com HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_018926