Epstein transcript reveals what prosecutors knew before deal

• The grand jury transcripts in Jeffrey Epstein’s first case in Florida were released this week.
• According to the documents, prosecutors heard testimony in 2006 that Epstein had raped girls as young as 14.
• Epstein agreed with him to a prison sentence of one and a half years and almost daily release from work.

On Monday, the grand jury transcripts in the first investigation against Jeffrey Epstein in Florida were released.

They show that prosecutors made a lenient deal with the disgraced financier despite hearing testimony that Epstein had raped girls as young as 14 and paid them to recruit more.

According to the transcript, a detective testified before a grand jury in 2006 that the investigation into Epstein began the previous year when a woman said her high school-aged stepdaughter had received $300 for “sexual acts” with a man in Palm Beach.

The detective testified that he interviewed another teenager who had brought six friends to Epstein’s house and explained that “the more you did, the more money you made.”

A third teen said in the transcript that she had visited Epstein’s home hundreds of times since she was 16. She said she was paid $200 for nude massages and $1,000 when Epstein raped her, the transcript said.

Although police believed Epstein’s crimes were more serious, the Palm Beach Post reported that prosecutor Barry Krischer made the unconventional decision to have the grand jury meet behind closed doors, damaging his own prosecution.

Krischer did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

In 2008, Epstein made a deal with prosecutors, avoiding federal charges and pleading guilty to a less serious state charge. He was sentenced to a year and a half in prison and allowed six days a week off under a work release program.

The Palm Beach Post sued the government in 2019 to release the grand jury transcripts.

Epstein was eventually arrested again in 2018 on broader federal sex trafficking charges after media reports renewed attention to the case.

According to a Justice Department report, Epstein committed suicide in a New York prison at the age of 66. The report found that prison officials botched Epstein’s final hours by failing to monitor his cell and neglecting to conduct inmate screenings.

Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell was also arrested and eventually convicted of aiding and abetting the running of the sex trafficking ring.