Jeffrey Epstein arrested for allegedly sex trafficking minors: reports

Jeffrey Epstein, billionaire money manager and convicted sex offender, was arrested in New York on federal charges of sex trafficking minors, The Daily Beast first reported Saturday night. [...] The 66-year-old financier stands accused of trafficking dozens of minors in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005, according to The Daily Beast, which cited three unnamed law enforcement sources. [...]

The new charges, brought by the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, are similar to charges the billionaire faced in Florida in 2008. In the earlier case, Epstein received an unusually light sentence on lesser charges of soliciting prostitution - just 13 months in county jail - after police found evidence that suggested he had regularly molested dozens of underage girls in his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion and asked his victims to recruit even more girls. [...]

But back in 2008, Epstein made a sweetheart deal - which was approved by Alexander Acosta, then U.S. attorney in Miami - in which he pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges, registered as a sex offender and received very little jail time. Acosta now serves as secretary of labor in the Trump administration. Epstein's controversial sentencing entered the spotlight again this year after a federal judge ruled that prosecutors working under Acosta broke the law by keeping that plea agreement secret from more than 30 of Epstein's alleged victims. Last month, the Justice Department told the judge there was no legal basis to overturn the plea deal and rejected a request by the victims to further prosecute Epstein.

source: Article 'Jeffrey Epstein Arrested For Allegedly Sex Trafficking Minors: Reports' by Carla Herreria; www.huffpost.com/entry/jeffrey-epstein-arrested-sex-trafficking-minors_n_5d213a82e4b0f31256852d10; HuffPost; 6 July 2019