The Jeffrey Epstein Scandal Explained For Brits

There has been no suggestion that Epstein’s conduct was widely known or approved of by friends or business associates.

Epstein was generous – his private Boeing 727-200 jet took Clinton and actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker on a tour of African countries in September 2002.

But behind the champagne, parties and globe-trotting there was a far darker and seedier side to Epstein’s life. His private island in the US Virgin Islands was sometimes referred to as “Orgy Island” or the “Island of Sin”, and his private jet was dubbed the “Lolita Express”.

A 2002 quote from Trump nods to the scandal that would eventually bring Epstein to that Manhattan jail cell.

 “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump booms from a speakerphone. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

The first court case

In 2005 a 14-year-old girl said she had been paid $300 to strip and massage Epstein at his mansion in Florida. An undercover police operation was launched and a number of other underage girls came forward with similar allegations.

In a plea deal three years later, Epstein pleaded guilty to one count to procuring for prostitution an underage girl, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and became a registered sex offender.

In exchange, the US Justice Department’s agreed not to prosecute him on similar charges.

But Epstein’s 18 months in prison would only be 13 months and the terms of his detention were so lenient, the man who oversaw them, then-Miami attorney Alexander Acosta, stepped down as Trump’s labour secretary earlier this month amid fresh scrutiny of the case.

While Epstein served the term, he was permitted to leave the jail to work for 12 hours a day, six days a week.

The investigation, eventually headed by the FBI, resulted in a 53-page indictment that was sealed and never publicly released.

The Prince

Epstein’s name wasn’t the only one to surface in the allegations of sex trafficking.

In the years after his conviction, a number of civil cases from individual complainants were brought, including that of Virginia Roberts (now Virginia Giuffre) who claimed she had been held as a sex slave by Epstein and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew.