The judge overseeing the child sex trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein ordered what may be the final hearing following the sex offender’s death, saying lawyers for both sides and any victims deserve a chance to speak.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman set a hearing for next Tuesday, following a motion earlier this week from prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to dismiss the charges against Epstein since he can no longer stand trial after what the New York City medical examiner’s office officially ruled a suicide by hanging in his Manhattan prison cell over a week ago.
“The court believes that, where, as here, a defendant has died before any judgment has been entered against him, the public may still have an informational interest in the process by which the prosecutor seeks dismissal of an indictment,” Berman said. “At the hearing, counsel for the government and for the deceased defendant, Jeffrey Epstein, will be heard. Counsel for the victims and the victims will also be heard, if they wish to be.”
Prosecutors moved to drop the child sex trafficking and conspiracy charges against Epstein on Monday. Prosecutors said they had tried to contact and notify all identified victims that the case would be dismissed.
“As this office has previously stated publicly, it remains committed to doing its utmost to stand up for the victims who have already come forward, as well as for the many others who have yet to do so,” Berman said.
Prosecutors believe Epstein had help committing his crimes, and his indictment referenced co-conspirators. There are believed to be many other alleged Epstein victims out there, and some have begun coming forward in the last few weeks.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate and intermittent girlfriend, is alleged in civil lawsuits to have helped Epstein carry out his criminal activities, according to numerous victims. Epstein’s suicide came the day after 2,000 pages of court records were unsealed related to the defamation lawsuit brought by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre against Maxwell.
Giuffre accused Maxwell of helping Epstein abuse her and others when Giuffre was underage. The records included allegations by Giuffre that Maxwell instructed her to have sex with high-profile figures. Other alleged victims have made similar allegations.
No criminal charges are known to have been filed against Maxwell at this time.
Epstein was alleged to have sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, among other locations, between 2002 and 2005 and perhaps beyond. Prosecutors claimed Epstein “enticed and recruited” minor girls to “engage in sex acts with him” and built a “vast network of underage victims.”
