The world is going crazy over the release of almost 3.5 million documents, images, and videos that detail criminal activities from the financial American, pedophile, and convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein, beyond his social circle that included politicians and celebrities.
But the Epstein story is full of mysteries, and even these days, we don’t know how he became so powerful. The only thing we know about his professional career was that he was a mathematics teacher at an elite school.
His first victim denounced him in the year 1996. The girl, Maria Farmer, reported abuse to the FBI, but the case was not taken seriously. Years later, the authorities put their eyes on him again.
The crimes of Epstein
In March 2005, the police of Palm Beach (Florida) received an allegation from a mother stating that Epstein paid her 14-year-old daughter to give him a “massage.” The police investigated and discovered a whole pyramid scheme in which girls were forced to bring new victims to him. Dozens of women accused Epstein and his colleagues of forcing them to do sexual services on his private island – in Caribe – and in his other houses, located in New York, Florida, and New Mexico.
He was sentenced in 2002 and 2005, but only in 2008, he was found guilty and agreed to serve 13 months in prison, such as paying indemnity to the victims. In February 2019, a district judge in Florida pleaded that the deal was illegal. In July of the same year, he was officially arrested and criminally charged for abusing minors and operating a sex-trafficking ring.
Epstein was found dead in August 2019. The autopsy results strongly suggested that he took his own life. Two days before he was found dead, the billionaire signed a will leaving an estate of US$ 577 million.
After his death, the allegations against him were dismissed; however, the prosecutors affirmed that the state could accuse other people who were connected to the scheme.
The beginning of the released archives
In 2014, the case regained popularity after the release of judge documents. At the time, it was discovered that more than 150 names were quoted in the process. The media made a lot of conspiracy theories about it, but nothing really happened… Until now.
The United States Department of Justice published on Friday, January 30th, more than 3.5 million documents, including emails, photos, and videos connected to the sexual criminal Jeffrey Epstein.
Among the names mentioned are the president of the USA, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and so on. Despite this, being in the archives doesn’t necessarily mean involvement in the crimes or personal contact with Epstein. Some of them maintain a “long contact by email” with Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell — Epstein’s ex-partner.
Although many documents were released, most of them have the names redacted, so we are unable to really know everyone who was involved in the scheme. The rebuke sparked outrage, and countless people on social media are asking themselves the real motive for the archives being released and why nobody is doing anything about it or arresting who deserves it.
The 3.5 million archives are free to access.
What comes next?
The leak of the documents was not a part of a criminal investigation. The archives were a civil procedure (Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell), which must take responsibility.
But there is still hope. With the archives being public now, numerous prosecutors, attorneys, and journalists all around the world are reading page by page and trying to extract clues. They can use these documents to reopen old cases, investigate people who were never considered as suspects, find new victims, and find out about money laundering.
There are some people who are already being investigated. The most recent is the arrest of the ex-prince Andrew, who was detained for bad public behavior connected to Epstein. Billionaires are being called to go to the congress to testify about their interaction with Epstein, and the consequences are starting to appear.
Even with the positive feedback that the arrests are coming, the public haven’t seen – and probably never will – the whole scenario. There are still millions of unreleased archives that could lead the investigation to the big fish. What’s left for us? Press the government to continue the arrests, the investigation and give victims what they deserve: justice.
_________________
The article above was edited by Eduarda Mahrouk
Liked this type of content? Check Her Campus Cásper Líbero home page for more!