Jeffrey Epstein's troubles pile up as 12 more women come forward with accusations against financier
At least 12 more women have come forward with accusations of sex trafficking and sexual assault against billionaire investor and registered sex offender Jeffrey Esptein, according to reports.
Epstein was arrested by federal agents last Sunday in New Jersey after his return from a Paris trip and was charged with child sex trafficking in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591.
He is suspected of sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York. The new charges against the billionaire suggest the Department of Justice's attempt to redeem its 2008 decision where a top federal prosecutor cut a questionable plea deal with the investor accused of engaging in sex with dozens of underage girls. Although police found evidence suggesting he had regularly molested and trafficked dozens of underage girls, he was handed a sentence of just 13 months of part-time custody in a county jail.
Miami Herald on Thursday reported that at least 12 women have reached out to attorneys in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, with their claims against the arrested New York money manager. Federal prosecutors in New York formally charged Epstein on Monday of sex trafficking underage girls as young as 14 out of his homes in New York and Florida from 2002 to 2005.
Court filings against Epstein claim that he conspired with others to recruit young girls and sexually abused and exploited them.
A total of 14 women have reached out to attorneys against Epstein, out of these women four of them contacted New York attorney David Boies, five women got in touch with Palm Beach attorney Jack Scarola and Fort Lauderdale attorney Brad Edwards, and three women are being represented by Palm Beach attorney Spencer Kuvin, according to the outlet.
Two of the victims -- Jennifer Araoz and Virginia Roberts -- have spoken out publicly against the billionaire investor:
Reports state that the five victims who contacted Scarola and Edwards told them that they were minors during the alleged sexual assault against them by Epstein.
Scarola, while speaking to the outlet, said: "The people we are speaking to are underage victims in Florida and in New York. They are not individuals whose claims have previously been part of any law enforcement investigation."
Epstein, who now faces charges of child sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, has not pleaded guilty yet and, if convicted, can be sentenced to 45 years in prison. The billionaire's lawyers, on Thursday, asked a federal judge to release him on $77million bond and place him under house arrest in his Upper East Side mansion.