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Epstein died in prison after being accused of sexual exploitation of minors
Item information
- Author, Bernd Debusmann jr
- Scrolling, from BBC News in Washington
- January 5, 2024, 4:21 p.m. 03
Updated 1 hour ago
In his testimony, a Florida police officer said that 30 women had spoken to him about “getting massages and working at the businessman's house.” Some of them would have been paid to give rides to other friends.
The case files were made public by order of a US federal judge.
Maxwell and Epstein are accused of running a child trafficking ring. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison and remains incarcerated in a United States federal prison.
Much of the material in this batch and the 900 pages revealed on Wednesday (04/01) had already been published during Maxwell's trial.
In a 2016 deposition, Joseph Recarey, a Palm Beach police officer, said about 30 women spoke to him about “massages” at Epstein's beachfront home.
He said Maxwell was also involved in recruiting the girls.
Recarey testified that only two of the girls had experience with massages and most of them were under 18 years old.
According to the police officer, some people were paid to recruit other girls. “When they performed a 'massage,' it was for Epstein's sexual gratification.”
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Aerial view of Little St. James Island by Jeffrey Epstein
Clinton and Epstein
In December, Judge Loretta Preska ruled that there was no longer any legal justification for keeping secret the names of more than 150 people named in the libel case against Maxwell by Virginia Giuffre, one of the women who accused Epstein.
Individuals are mentioned in passing in several lawsuits, and their mention does not necessarily mean they were involved in wrongdoing related to Epstein.
Court files opened on Wednesday and Thursday contain references to Britain's Prince Andrew and former US President Bill Clinton.
Allegations previously made against Prince Andrew include that he sexually abused a minor in London, New York and on Epstein's island in the Virgin Islands after the teenager was instructed to do so by Maxwell.
Andrew denied these allegations.
The new documents also include a suggestion from a lawyer for Virginia Giuffre that former President Clinton may have “information” about Maxwell and Epstein's activities because he traveled with them.
Clinton admitted accompanying Epstein on his private jet on humanitarian aid trips but denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of crimes.
There is no hint of illegality on Clinton's part in the documents.
The latest batch includes a claim by Giuffre that the former US president went to the offices of American magazine Vanity Fair to try to persuade journalists not to write articles about sex trafficking linked to his “good friend” Epstein.
The BBC contacted the Clinton Foundation for comment, and a spokesman quoted a statement from former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, who said the alleged incident “did not happen.”
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The American billionaire was arrested in July 2019
The BBC contacted Condé Nast, Vanity Fair's parent company, for comment but did not receive a response.
Elsewhere, former Mail on Sunday journalist Sharon Churcher and Giuffre discuss an attempt by Vanity Fair magazine to buy a photo of Giuffre.
The journalist advises Giuffre to say that at this moment she has nothing more to reveal about how she was allegedly sexually trafficked with “two of the most respected politicians in the world.” The names of the alleged politicians are not mentioned in the email.
In another court filing released Wednesday, a woman identified as “Jane Doe #3” claims she was trafficked by Epstein “for sexual purposes with many other powerful men, including numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business leaders, foreign presidents and a wellknown prime minister and other world leaders”.
“Jane Doe #3” has been referred to in media reports as Virginia Giuffre herself.
In the lawsuit, Maxwell's lawyers argue that journalist Sharon Churcher helped “invent” charges against Prince Andrew and a U.S. attorney, Alan Dershowitz.
The BBC contacted Churcher and the Mail on Sunday newspaper for comment but received no response.
Dershowitz filed a request for the documents on Thursday at the request of the Miami Herald. He denied any wrongdoing.
The former Harvard law professor told Fox News Digital on Thursday that there is still “overwhelming evidence that has not been made public.”
“They have to do with the credibility and lack thereof of some accusers and some defendants. I have seen these documents suppressed. Nothing should be suppressed.”
Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. The businessman took his own life in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell, daughter of publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, is currently serving a 20year prison sentence for her role in recruiting girls for Epstein. His lawyers are appealing the verdict.