Bill Clinton broke his silence on his former associate Jeffrey Epstein's arrest for sex trafficking on Monday to distance himself from the convicted pedophile and say he knew nothing of the new charges against him.

In 2007, he pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution in a sweetheart deal in Florida which involved him spending a year in a low-restriction detention center.

Before that conviction, he and Clinton had socialized together and the former president flew on one of his private jets four times. Epstein also donated to The Clinton Foundation.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend and alleged madam, was present at Chelsea Clinton's wedding three years later.

She has been accused in multiple lawsuits of having helped Epstein create a sex ring filled with underage girls, with one filing alleging that Epstein sexually assault victims with Maxwell's 'assistance and participation.'

This was also after a number of underage victims in Florida had stated that Maxwell promised them educational and modeling opportunities if they acquiesced to her demands, with one comparing her and Epstein to an 'organized crime family' in her court filing.

But on Monday, former president Clinton insisted he had not had contact with Epstein for years.

‘President Clinton knows 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,’ a statement released by his office read.

‘In 2002 and 2003, President Clinton took a total of four trips on Jeffrey Epstein’s airplane: one to Europe, one to Asia, and two to Africa, which included stops in connection with the work of the Clinton Foundation.

‘Staff, supporters of the Foundation, and his Secret Service detail traveled on every leg of every trip.

Billionaire financier Epstein pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of sex trafficking as prosecutors accused him of luring dozens of girls as young as 14 to his luxury homes in New York and Florida and paying them for sex acts.

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Friends until the end:

Bill Clinton is denying that he had any knowledge of Epstein's alleged crimes

The former president released a statement on Monday saying that he flew on Epstein's jet four times

‘He had one meeting with Epstein in his Harlem office in 2002, and around the same time made one brief visit to Epstein’s New York apartment with a staff member and his security detail.

‘He’s not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade, and has never been to Little St. James Island, Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico, or his residence in Florida.’

In a 2002 profile on Epstein by New York magazine, a spokesperson for Clinton said of him: 'Jeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of twenty-first-century science.

'I especially appreciated his insights and generosity during the recent trip to Africa to work on democratization, empowering the poor, citizen service, and combating HIV/AIDS.'

In September 2002, Clinton flew with Epstein on a week-long tour through Africa that included stops in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, and Mozambique.

Actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker were reported to have also been on the trip.

An indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan on Monday accused Epstein, 66, of arranging for girls to perform nude 'massages' and other sex acts, and paying some girls to recruit others, from at least 2002 to 2005.

The image above shows Epstein's private plane, which was reportedly set up with a bed where guests had group sex with young girls.

In 2015, the now-defunct news site Gawker reported that Clinton flew at least 11 times on Epstein's plane between 2002 and 2003. According to the site, Clinton was accompanied on those trips by Ghislaine Maxwell (seen left with Epstein) and Epstein's former assistant Sarah Kellen (right). Kellen has since changed her name to Sarah Vicker

'The alleged behavior shocks the conscience, and while the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly important to the many alleged victims, now young women,' U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a press conference.

'They deserve their day in court.'

Epstein was known for socializing with politicians and royalty, with friends who have included President Trump, Clinton, Prince Andrew, legal eagle Alan Dershowitz, and others.

SEX TRAFFICKING & CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT SEX TRAFFICKING Sex Trafficking of Minors (maximum sentence of 40 years in prison) This refers to any recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a minor for the purpose of a commercial sex act. Offenders of this crime often target vulnerable children and gain control over them using a variety of manipulative methods. Those offenders now have more channels to carry out these crimes with the advent of the Internet and mobile technology, and as a result are harder to apprehend in most cases. In Epstein's case, he was with an employee in New York who he allegedly instructed to contact a minor in Palm Beach to set up a meeting between the two. This happened at least two times with two different employees and two different minors according to the indictment. Conspiracy to Sex Traffic Minor (maximum sentence of five years in prison) This refers to enticing a minor for the purpose of a commercial sex act. In Epstein's case, he allegedly contacted the minor victim in New York and set up a meeting at his mansion during which a commercial sex act took place. An Epstein employee was also involved in scheduling that meeting. Advertisement

None of those people was mentioned in the indictment.

The episode is likely to cause embarrassment to Prince Andrew, who was an associate of Epstein but has now severed ties.

Wearing dark blue jail scrubs, Epstein entered his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman to one count of sex trafficking and one count of sex trafficking conspiracy.

Epstein faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.

According to the indictment, the former hedge fund manager 'intentionally sought out minors and knew that many of his victims were in fact under the age of 18, including because, in some instances, minor victims expressly told him their age.'

In 2016, it was reported that C linton spent enough time aboard Epstein's 'Lolita Express' airplane that he should be eligible for frequent flyer miles.

Flight logs reviewed by Fox News show that Clinton took 26 trips aboard Epstein's Boeing 727 jet, more than double the 11 flights previously known.

Epstein's jet was reportedly set up with a bed where guests had group sex with young girls.

One of them, Virginia Giuffre, has claimed she was lured into joining Epstein's harem when she was just 15 years old and was then known as Virginia Roberts.

The former teen prostitute has said she was used as a 'sex slave.'

Roberts, 35, claimed she saw Clinton in 2002 on an Epstein junket to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

But according to Fox, flight logs don't show the former president aboard a flight headed there. St. Thomas has a landing strip long enough to accommodate the jet.

The logs do show the former president jetting to such exotic locales as Brunei, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, the Azores, Africa, Belgium, China, New York, and Belgium – all on Epstein's plane.

Traveling with Epstein was New York socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, whom Roberts has accused of pimping her out.

Flight logs (above) show that Clinton, Alan Dershowitz, Kevin Spacey, Chris Tucker, and other high profile names took trips aboard Epstein's plane

Flight logs filed with the Federal Aviation Administration show Clinton brought as many as 10 U.S. Secret Service agents along with him on some trips.

But a journey to Asia in 2002 didn't list any Secret Service protection. As a former president, Clinton still gets a taxpayer-funded security detail for life.

EPSTEIN'S VICTIMS BREAK THEIR SILENCE Two of the women who accused billionaire Jeffrey Epstein of molesting them when they were minors will be in attendance for his court appearance on Monday in Manhattan. Michelle Licata was just 16 when she claims a young woman brought her to Epstein's Palm Beach estate and she was paid to give him a massage. 'He said, god, you're just so beautiful and sexy and gorgeous and it was making me feel really uncomfortable,' said Licata in an interview with ABC News. Courtney Wild was even younger, revealing that she was still in middle school when Epstein allegedly forced her into performing sex acts. 'I was 14, I had braces on,' recalled Wild. Wild and Licata, who were among the victims in the previous criminal case brought against Epstein, 66, in Florida back in 2008, said that they will both be in court on Monday for his arraignment and bail hearing. Advertisement

The cable network reported that Clinton would have been required to file an official form to leave his protective forces behind, although the Secret Service hasn't responded to formal document requests.

In 2015, the now-defunct news site Gawker reported that Clinton flew at least 11 times on Epstein's plane between 2002 and 2003.

According to the site, Clinton was accompanied on those trips by Maxwell and Epstein's former assistant Sarah Kellen.

Both Maxwell and Kellen 'have been repeatedly accused in court filings of acting as pimps for [Epstein], recruiting and grooming young girls into their network of child sex workers, and frequently participating in sex acts with them, according to Gawker.

Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008, and served just 18 months in jail for the offense despite outrage from victims advocates.

Epstein, who registered as a sex offender under a 2008 plea deal in Florida, has said in earlier court filings that his encounters with alleged victims were consensual and that he believed they were 18 when they occurred.

Epstein will remain in jail until at least July 15, when a judge has scheduled a bail hearing.

Prosecutors have said Epstein should be denied bail, arguing he poses an 'extraordinary risk of flight' because of his wealth, private planes and significant international ties.