Jeffrey Epstein: Sex Trafficking and Celebrities

Trigger Warning: Sex Trafficking, Sexual Abuse, Suicide

Jeffrey Epstein, one of the most controversial and mysterious billionaires of the era. A man that can be summarised in one word "unknown". How did he make his money; unknown, his net worth; unknown, how many victims have suffered under his control; unknown. Jeffrey Epstein, born January 20th 1953, began his professional career in the late 70's as a maths teacher in New York at the elite Dalton school. During his stay at the school a parent was so interested in Epstein's skills in mathematics and economy that he was recommended a job at the investment bank Bear Stearns, where he began to work in. Later on, in the 80's Epstein founded his own firm; J. Epstein and Co, which he claimed to market only to those with assets more than one billion dollars. As Jeffrey Epstein's career grew so did his connections, the financier began to be seen with A-listers such as Harvey Weinstein and Woody Allen as well as famous politicians like Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and even Prince Andrew the son of the Queen.

In 2008 Jeffrey Epstein had officially become a registered sex offender, specifically for "Solicitation of Prostitution Involving a Minor" to which he later talked about in a New York Times article released in 2011. "I'm not a sexual predator, I'm an 'offender," he said, "It's the difference between a murderer and a person who steals a bagel.". This "scandal" however, did not change many celebrities' stance on the financier as he could still be seen travelling in private jets, walking around central park and going to parties with them.

July 2019, Teterboro Airport, one of the most eventful occurrences of the year, Jeffrey Epstein had officially been arrested on charges of sex trafficking. "Over the course of many years, Jeffrey Epstein, the defendant, sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes in Manhattan, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida, among other locations." stated the criminal accusation, "in order to maintain and increase his supply of victims, Epstein also paid certain of his victims to recruit additional girls to be similarly abused."

Following Epstein's arrest public opinion on him grew even worse, but what did all those celebrities tied to the billionaire claim? As more and more information about Epstein's sex trafficking and pedophilia came to light, those associated with him began to speak out. "I had a falling out with him, I haven’t spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you." stated Donald Trump to the New York Times in 2019. After travelling with Epstein in his private jet four times between 2003 and 2004 Bill Clinton released a public statement claiming he knew "nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York,". Later on after facing much scrutiny for also being accused of knowing about Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking and partaking in the sexual assault of Virginia Giuffre, Prince Andrew also spoke out, Buckingham Palace releasing a statement; The Duke of York has been appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged crimes. His Royal Highness deplores the exploitation of any human being and the suggestion he would condone, participate in or encourage any such behaviour is abhorrent.``

Regarding his arrest in 2019, initially not much was known except for his involvement in a sex trafficking conspiracy and some victim statements. As the investigation went on, the media began gaining more access to the details and the public truly began understanding what type of person lay behind the mask of the billionaire, financier and philanthropist. According to the New York Times; "During the search of his townhouse on Saturday, investigators seized photographs of nude underage girls.". It was also discovered that he worked with multiple Nobel laureates on projects involving eugenics, including one ambition he discussed involving impregnating multiple women in his ranch in New Mexico in order to spread his DNA.

As Epstein's final trial on his sex trafficking charge came closer, he began to show suicidal tendencies, going as far as being found unconscious with marks in his neck and having to have closer monitoring from the guards. Later on however he went through lengths in order to convince the jail officials he was truly not suicidal. “I have no interest in killing myself,” Epstein told a jailhouse psychologist. He was a “coward” and did not like pain, he explained. “I would not do that to myself.”. A day before his death, thousands of documents from a civil suit had been released, providing lurid accounts accusing Epstein of sexually abusing scores of girls. Finally, on August 10th 2019, Epstein was found hanging by his bedsheet on the night, as his cellmate had been transferred and he was now alone.

Epstein's death brought on a range of conspiracy theories on social media as well as from his own brother Mark who claimed that Epstein experienced a number of injuries that “are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation.”. This statement by Mark's forensic pathologist as well as the unusual procedures taken place in the prison left many wondering. Investigations into the suicide found jail officials had made serious mistakes on the night of the suicide. Some of which being the fact that, because of his first attempted suicide, according to jail procedure, he was supposed to have had another inmate in his cell but the jail had recently transferred his cellmate and allowed him to be housed alone. Another extremely suspicious thing that had occurred was that he was supposed to have been checked by the two guards in the protective housing unit every 30 minutes, but that procedure was not followed that night, instead the guards were found napping. All this information brought on wild theories from all over the world but one thing that remained true was that Epstein was now dead and all of his victims and the public were left in the dark once more.