Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in New Jersey on Saturday night, charged by federal prosecutors with one count of sex trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. The 66-year-old billionaire financier—who avoided federal criminal charges on similar counts in 2008—is expected to answer the new charges before a federal magistrate on Monday.
CBS Miami first reported that Epstein was arrested Saturday afternoon at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey under a sealed indictment. Per The Daily Beast, Epstein was apprehended by the FBI-NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force for sexually exploiting numerous underage girls in his Upper East Side home and Palm Beach residence—soliciting massages and otherwise “molesting or sexually abusing” them. Epstein will be charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors, potentially carrying a maximum sentence of 45 years.
The allegations are comparable to those leveled against Epstein in 2007, charges for which he struck a deal that included pleading guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution, registering as a sex offender, and serving 13 months in a county jail that otherwise released him six days a week to work in his office. That plea was signed by then-Miami federal prosecutor Alexander Acosta, who now serves as Donald Trump’s labor secretary. In February, a Florida judge ruled that Acosta violated federal law by not disclosing Epstein’s nonprosecution agreement to his alleged victims. The Justice Department has also opened an investigation into possible prosecutorial misconduct regarding the nonprosecution agreement.
“It’s been a long time coming—it’s been too long coming,” attorney David Boies told The Daily Beast of Epstein’s arrest. Boies represents two of Epstein’s past accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Sarah Ransome. “We hope that prosecutors will not stop with Mr. Epstein because there were many other people who participated with him and made the sex trafficking possible,” Boies added.
The report also notes that Epstein’s employees and associates were allegedly complicit in recruiting the underage girls, and turned some of the girls into recruiters themselves. Epstein is also said to have been aware of their underage status throughout.