Palm Beach State Attorney's Handling of Jeffrey Epstein Sex Abuse Case Raises Questions of Wealthy Influence

Especially, I asked Mr. Edmondson 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 "philosophical 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, "regardless 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. Palm Beach Post Editorial #2 Massaging the system Palm Beach Post Editorial Thursday, August 10, 2006 Palm Beach police say their 11-month investigation shows that 53-year-old part-time town resident Jeffrey Epstein committed unlawful sex acts with and lewd and lascivious molestation on five underage girls. Defense attorney Jack Goldberger claims that his client, Jeffrey Epstein, had no idea that the untrained girls he hired for massages were minors. The Palm Beach Count State Attorney's Office could have let a jury decide whom to believe. Instead, State Attorney Barry Krischer left the public to wonder whether the system tilted in favor of a wealthy, well-connected alleged perpetrator and against very young girls who are alleged victims of sex crimes. Mr. Krischer took the unusual step of referring the case to a grand jury, which last month indicted Jeffrey Epstein on one felony count of solicitation of prostitution. That decision came after Harvard law Professor Alan Dershowitz met with prosecutors to undermine the credibility of the 14- to 17-yearold girls who charged that Mr. Epstein had paid them $200 to $300 to undress and massage him in his five-bedroom, 7 1/2 -bath home on the Intracoastal Waterway. The girls, Mr. Dershowitz told prosecutors, had written on myspace.com about smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. But if the girls have a credibility problem, what about Jeffrey Epstein? Mr. Goldberger, told The Post: "Mr. Epstein absolutely insisted anybody who came to his house be over the age of 18. How he verified that, I don't know." And prosecutors took him at his word? Police collected evidence that refutes Jeffrey Epstein’s defense. Police searched his home and garbage and found phone messages about the girls’ school schedules and even a high school transcript, suggesting that Mr. Epstein at least knew that the girls were teenagers. The state attorney's office has responded to criticism from Palm Beach police and others by noting the higher standard prosecutors face for conviction than law-enforcement officers do for arrest. But in this case, the state attorney bowed to the risk that a jury might look at both Jeffrey Epstein and the girls, and point fingers at both sides. Even if the girls could be impugned as prostitutes, solicitation of a minor is a crime. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021796