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the difference between prostitution and pedophilia.
So, it is baffling that Mr. Epstein, who was indicted last month by a grand jury on one
felony count of solicitation of prostitution, has not been charged, as Palm Beach police
strenuously urged, with unlawful sex acts with a minor and lewd and lascivious
molestation.
Conviction of crimes against minors would mean steeper penalties than the maximum
five-year prison term Mr. Epstein faces if convicted of the single count of felony
solicitation. It also would help carry a message of intolerance to perverts who prey on
girls.
Prosecutors did not pursue charges against Mr. Epstein reflecting the age of the victims
because they assumed a jury would view the girls not as victims but as promiscuous,
untrustworthy, willing participants. The presumption is offensive.
Mr. Epstein, a 53-year-old Manhattan money manager who has hired Harvard law
professor Alan Dershowitz and defense attorney Jack Goldberger, has denied knowing
how old the girls were. But police interviews with five alleged victims and 17 witnesses
under oath, as well as phone messages, a high school transcript and other items that
police found from searching Mr. Epstein's trash and 7,234-square-foot waterfront home,
provide evidence that he knew the girls were teenagers.
One girl couldn't show up when Mr. Epstein wanted because she had soccer. Another
time, Mr. Epstein had to wait for his "massage" session because the girl he wanted was
still in class.
Why didn't State Attorney Barry Krischer let a jury decide whether to believe the
teenagers - including a 16-year-old who went to Mr. Epstein's house to "work" in
December 2004 after being asked whether she needed to make money for Christmas
gifts?
Prosecutors gave greater weight to the details Mr. Dershowitz provided about the girls in
an apparent effort to assail their character. Mr. Dershowitz pointed out to prosecutors that
some of the teenagers had talked on myspace.com about marijuana and alcohol use.
The 20-year-old Royal Palm Beach woman who told police she recruited girls for Mr.
Epstein has a Web page on myspace.com that features one girl using the name "Pimpin'
Made EZ."
Although no charges of witness tampering have been filed, the parents of at least one of
the teenage victims complained to police of being followed and intimidated by two men.
Police determined that their vehicles were registered to two private investigators. Mr.
Goldberger denied knowing anything about it.
Police also note in their reports that the state attorney's office offered Mr. Epstein a plea
deal that would have placed him on probation for five years, allowing him ultimately to
walk away with no criminal record at all.
I asked Mr. Krischer's spokesman, Mike Edmondson, why the case was referred to a
grand jury instead of Mr. Epstein being charged and facing a trial before a jury. And
shouldn't the victims' credibility be a factor to determine whether a crime's been
committed, not whether a jury will convict? (After all, as Mr. Goldberger told The Palm
Beach Post of Mr. Epstein, "He's never denied girls came to the house.")

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