Jeffrey Epstein: Judge receives 2006 grand jury materials in Palm Beach Post lawsuit

The very first prosecutor to consider criminal charges against Jeffrey Epstein, arguably the world's most prolific sexual predator with an estimated 500 victims, mysteriously weakened his own case before a 2006 grand jury, a 2019 Palm Beach Post investigation found, and now the public and victims may be on the verge of finding out why Epstein was able to molest, rape and traffic underage girls for 13 more years.

The Epstein saga began and could have ended in Palm Beach County. The Post sued in 2019 to find out why it didn't. The newspaper sought to find out what happened behind the veil of grand jury secrecy that resulted in Epstein being charged with only one count of solicitation of prostitution — what an adult john propositioning a sex worker might face.

Not only did former Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer's prosecutor undermine his own case before grand jurors, but she subverted the testimony of the lone 14-year-old witness. Several minors had told police strikingly similar stories about Epstein molesting, even raping them, but they did not testify.

A panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal decided in May that the trial judge was entitled to release the grand jury material that will show how strong or even how much of a case prosecutors presented.

Circuit Judge Luis Delgado ordered the clerk of courts to deliver the material to him on Monday so he can review it in private. Then he'll decide what can be released "in furtherance of justice," a part of Florida law that was a tenet of The Post's case.

It's not clear when or even if Delgado might release the material. The newspaper, for example, has encouraged victims' names be redacted. Depending on how voluminous the material is, it could take some time.

Read The Post's investigation Jeffrey Epstein case, the first failure: To the first prosecutors, Epstein's victims were prostitutes

Rarely is grand jury material made public. It is kept secret to allow jurors to be candid, prevent defendants from destroying evidence and protect the accused in cases in which they are later exonerated.

But these factors no longer apply, The Post argued.

“It can no longer credibly be maintained that continued blanket secrecy over the proceedings that led to the egregiously flawed 2006 Epstein indictment is warranted under the law,” The Post’s complaint by Greenberg Traurig attorneys Mike Grygiel, Stephen Mendelsohn and Nina Boyajian reads.

“To the contrary, transparency is required to promote public understanding of the criminal justice system and public confidence in the fair administration of justice.”

"The case breaks new legal ground," Mendelsohn said. "This is the first time in Florida that a court has ordered release of grand jury materials to the media other than in public corruption criminal cases."

Post exclusive: Never-before-seen Jeffrey Epstein biography surfaces

The Post's lawsuit: Read the complaint here

Police chief to Krischer: 'I must urge you to consider ... if reason exists' for 'your disqualification from prosecution of these cases.'

In the wake of the 2006 indictment against Epstein, Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter took the case to the FBI, citing in a letter the "highly unusual" actions Krischer had taken in the case.

"I must urge you to consider ... if good and sufficient reason exists to require your disqualification from prosecution of these cases," Reiter said in his letter to Krischer. Palm Beach police said they had found 13 minors who said Epstein had molested or raped them.

The FBI found many more accusers and federal prosecutors put together a 53-page, 60-count indictment. After Epstein's arrest, however, Krischer, chief federal prosecutor Marie Villafana and Epstein's high-powered lawyers began to negotiate the "deal of the century," as one assistant state attorney later put it.

The infamous nonprosecution agreement they came up with shielded Epstein as well as several co-conspirators from federal prosecution. The Post successfully sued in 2009 to unseal the agreement.

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Victims weren't told about deal for Jeffrey Epstein's 2008 guilty plea

Epstein in 2008 pleaded guilty to the solicitation charge in addition to another prostitution-related felony involving minors, which required him to register as a sex offender. Victims were not told anything about the deal before he appeared in court.

Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in jail, not prison, as is usual for sentences longer than a year.

He served 13 months in a private wing of the Palm Beach County jail and was on work release 12 hours a day/six days a week. He claimed to be working at his newly formed Florida Science Foundation in West Palm Beach. An attorney who represents several victims said a teenager was flown in for sex with him at that office. Epstein paid for sheriff's deputies to monitor him while he was working.

Epstein was released from jail in 2009 and went on to continue hobnobbing with the rich and famous until federal authorities in New York charged him with sex trafficking in July 2019 and jailed him. In August of that year, he was found hanged. A medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.

More: Where to get help, hope in Palm Beach County if you're a victim of sexual assault

Two years later, Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years for conspiring to sex traffic minors, among other charges related to Epstein's scheme. She worked from as early as 1994 through 2004 enticing girls into sex with Epstein and participating in the abuse herself.

Maxwell lured Virginia Giuffre, who settled a lawsuit with Prince Andrew recently over an allegation he sexually abused her when she was 17, from Mar-a-Lago where Giuffre (formerly Roberts) was working in the spa at age 15.

At least one of the four victims who testified in Maxwell's trial lives in Palm Beach County. Carolyn Andriano, who recently went public, said Giuffre recruited her for Epstein.

More: Why was Jeffrey Epstein charged only as a ‘john’? Post sues to find out

Another Palm Beach County victim goes public

Andriano told the Daily Mail that she had a troubled past and chaotic life when she first visited Epstein in 2001 at age 14. Her mother was an alcoholic and addicted to drugs and Andriano had been sexually abused by her grandmother's partner when she was 4. Many of Epstein's victims had been sexually abused previously and their families struggled financially.

Andriano said she went to Epstein's mansion about 100 times, three or four times a week over the next four years. Lawyers said her testimony was pivotal in convicting Maxwell.

"I’m not ashamed at being a victim of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell," she told the Daily Mail. "For other girls that have been victimized, I want them to know that it is OK to come out and tell somebody — even if you don’t want to be identified — and the sooner the better.

‘I want people to know these terrible things have happened to me and that I am a survivor."

Holly Baltz is the investigations editor at The Palm Beach Post. Reach her at hbaltz@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jeffrey Epstein: Judge to start looking at what happened in grand jury