A group of 12 people who made accusations against Jeffrey Epstein are now suing the FBI for allegedly failing to protect them from the convicted sex offender and accused human trafficker who died in 2019.
According to the Feb. 14 complaint filed in a federal court in the Southern District of New York, the FBI is accused of failing to investigate Epstein, despite having evidence of his crimes, and lying about the whole affair. As a result, the complaint alleges Epstein’s sophisticated worldwide sex trafficking was able to continue for more than 20 years.
A second complaint by the same 12 people was filed in a federal court in Manhattan and is seeking damages from the U.S. government over similar allegations.
“For over two decades, the Federal Bureau of Investigation permitted Jeffrey Epstein to sex traffic and sexually abuse scores of children and young women by failing to do the job the American people expected of it,” the New York complaint says.
The victims, using Jane Doe pseudonyms, claim the FBI received credible tips in 1996 that Epstein was involved in trafficking young women and girls, yet failed to interview victims or share what it knew with federal and local law enforcement.
“As a direct and proximate cause of the FBI’s negligence, plaintiffs would not have been [sic] continued to be sex trafficked, abused, raped, tortured and threatened,” the complaint says.
“Jane Does 1–12 bring this lawsuit to get to the bottom, once and for all, of the FBI’s role in Epstein’s criminal sex trafficking ring.”
The plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount of compensation and damages.
Jennifer Plotkin and Nathan Werksman, attorneys for the group of Jane Does, said in a media statement the lawsuit was the first step in reaching the truth in this matter, which is long overdue, especially for the victims who have suffered greatly.
“The filing of this lawsuit is the first step to getting to the bottom of what we have recently learned—that for years the FBI negligently failed to act on clear evidence that Jeffrey Epstein was operating a vast sex abuse operation and sex trafficking ring, as alleged,” they said.
“That failure resulted in incalculable harm to our clients.”
Victims previously reached a $500 million settlement with a program funded by Epstein’s estate and two of Epstein’s banks. It’s not stated whether the 12 plaintiffs received compensation from those settlements.
Epstein Cases Continue to Cause Headaches for Authorities
Authorities have faced misconduct allegations around the handling of Epstein’s court cases before.In 2008, Epstein became a registered sex offender as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. Under the 2008 non-prosecution agreement, also known as an NPA, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. He was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls and was facing a possible life sentence for the crimes.
An NPA, or a deferred prosecution agreement, is where a prosecutor agrees to grant a defendant amnesty in exchange for fulfilling specific requirements. In this case, in exchange for avoiding more serious charges, Epstein had to register as a sex offender, serve 13 months in a work-release program, and make payments to all the victims involved. There was also a clause granting immunity to any potential co-conspirators.
A 2008 lawsuit saw two of Epstein’s alleged victims in Doe v. U.S. sue the government for violating their rights under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act. In particular, they claimed their right to confer during the negotiation of the NPA was violated. That case was later dismissed.
When the details of the plea deal came to light in 2019, it sparked controversy, and Alex Acosta, one of the U.S. attorneys in Miami who helped broker the 2008 deal with Epstein, resigned from his role as U.S. labor secretary.
However, a 2020 Justice Department report into the circumstances surrounding the plea deal found Mr. Acosta had exercised “poor judgment” in handling the investigation, but it did not constitute misconduct. The report also concluded none of the other prosecutors involved committed misconduct in their interactions with Epstein’s victims. The 350-page report was the culmination of an investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility into the handling of the secret plea deal.
Mr. Acosta said at the time the report fully debunks” allegations that he had cut a sweetheart deal for Epstein. He also claimed that the report and public records prove that without federal involvement, Epstein would have walked free with zero penalties back in 2008.
