An indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan accused Epstein, 66, of arranging for girls to perform nude “massages” and other sex acts, and paying some girls to recruit others, from at least 2002 to 2005.
“The alleged behaviour shocks the conscience, and while the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly important to the many alleged victims, now young women,” US attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a press conference. “They deserve their day in court.”
Jeffrey Epstein was arrested over the weekend and charged him with sex trafficking of minors, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Epstein, who had been previously accused of molesting young girls, is expected to appear in Manhattan federal court on Monday, according to the person, who declined to comment publicly because the charges remain private.
Suspicions about Epstein date back more than a decade, when his alleged victims said he used employees to bring local teen girls to his Florida mansion for sex and paid them to recruit new victims.
The girls were as young as 13-years-old. Epstein eventually pleaded guilty in 2008 to two counts of soliciting a prostitute and served 13 months in a Florida state prison, while avoiding prosecution for federal sex-trafficking offences.
The Miami Herald last year published a series of stories detailing how the top federal prosecutor in southern Florida at the time, Alexander Acosta, worked with Epstein’s lawyers to fashion a lenient plea deal.
Acosta, now US Secretary of Labour, allegedly failed to clear the agreement with many of Epstein’s 30 alleged victims, who said they would have opposed the 13-month sentence Epstein ultimately served.
In the new case, additional victims have come forward since Epstein entered into his plea deal with Florida prosecutors, the person said. He is alleged to have committed the crimes while in Manhattan.
Epstein will be held in federal custody in Manhattan until his appearance in court on Monday when the case against him will be unsealed, the person said. A spokeswoman for US Attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan declined to comment.
Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in northern New Jersey as he returned from France, the person said. His lawyer couldn’t be reached for comment.
Epstein, who has homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, New Mexico, Paris and the US Virgin Islands, sexually abused girls, mostly 13 to 16-years-old, at his Palm Beach mansion, the Herald reported.
The new charges were initially reported by The Daily Beast.