Prosecutors knew two years before the deal that Epstein had raped teenagers, according to a transcript

The transcripts were at the center of a legal battle for about a decade after media investigations into how Epstein’s ties to the rich and powerful apparently allowed him to continue raping and having sex with underage girls without serving a lengthy prison sentence.

The judge’s release of the roughly 150 pages came as a surprise, as he had scheduled a hearing for next week to clarify when and how the pages would be released. Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law in February allowing the release on Monday or at any later date ordered by District Judge Luis Delgado.

The transcripts show that the grand jury heard testimony that Epstein, then in his 40s, raped teenage girls as young as 14 at his Palm Beach mansion. The teenage girls testified and told investigators they were also paid to find him other girls.

“The details in the file will be outrageous to decent people,” Delgado wrote in his decision.

“The grand jury testimony concerns activities ranging from completely unacceptable to rape – all of the conduct involved is sexually deviant, abhorrent and criminal.”

In 2008, following the grand jury investigation, Epstein made a deal with federal prosecutors in South Florida that allowed him to avoid more serious federal charges and instead plead guilty to state charges of procuring a person under 18 for the purpose of prostitution and soliciting prostitution.

He was sentenced to one and a half years in the Palm Beach County Jail, followed by one year of house arrest, and was required to register as a sex offender.

This deal was widely criticized as being too lenient.

According to the transcripts, Palm Beach Police Detective Joe Recarey testified in July 2006 that the investigation was launched when a woman reported in March 2005 that her stepdaughter, then in high school, said she had received $300 (£237) in exchange for “sexual activity with a man in Palm Beach,” Det Recarey testified.

Another teen, whose name was redacted in the transcript, told investigators that she was 17 when a friend approached her and told her she could earn $200 by offering massages at Epstein’s home.

Inside the house, the teenager was led into a room by an Epstein assistant, and a short time later Epstein came in and ordered her to remove her clothes. She obeyed and began the massage.

When Epstein tried to touch her, she told him she was uncomfortable. Epstein then told her he would pay her if she brought other “girls” to his home. She agreed, according to the October 2005 interview with detectives, which Det Recarey recounted.

“And he told her, ‘The younger the better,'” Det Recarey said.

When she brought a 23-year-old friend, Epstein told her the friend was too old. Over time, the teenager brought six friends from her high school to Epstein’s home, including a 14-year-old girl, the detective said.

The teenager, who compared herself to Hollywood’s detective madam Heidi Fleiss, explained that the girls knew what they were getting into. She was given $200 each time she brought a friend and a rental car paid for by Epstein.

“The more you did, the more money you made,” the teen told the detective. “She explained that there would be a massage or possibly touching and that you would have to do the massage either topless or naked.”

Epstein was charged with federal sex trafficking offenses in 2018 in New York – where he also owned a mansion that was the scene of abuse – after the Miami Herald published a series of articles that brought renewed public attention to the case, including interviews with some of the victims who had filed civil lawsuits against him.

Epstein was 66 when he took his own life in a New York City jail cell in August 2019, federal officials say.

In his ruling, Judge Delgado described Epstein as “the most notorious pedophile in American history.”

“For nearly 20 years, the story of how Jeffrey Epstein victimized some of Palm Beach County’s most vulnerable people has been the subject of great anger and, at times, tainted the public’s perception of the criminal justice system,” Judge Delgado wrote.

“Epstein is indeed notorious and nefarious, and is widely reported to have boasted about his wealth while socializing with politicians, billionaires and even the British royal family,” he continued.

“Given these reports, it is understandable that the public is very curious about what the (news) agencies described as ‘special treatment’ in connection with his prosecution.”