The charges filed against Jeffrey Epstein by Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman followed harsh criticism of other prosecutors for their handling of sex abuse allegations against the financier.

Former Miami US Attorney Alex Acosta — who is now President Trump’s secretary of labor — came under fire in the wake of last year’s award-winning Miami Herald exposé of the non-prosecution agreement he struck with Epstein in 2008.

In February, the US Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility launched a probe into the deal in response to a request from Sen. Ben Sasse.

Sasse (R-Neb.) called the agreement part of an “epic miscarriage of justice” that let Epstein strike a plea bargain with Palm Beach County prosecutors to serve just 15 months of an 18-month sentence for two counts of solicitation of prostitution, one involving a minor.

In a statement following Epstein’s Saturday arrest, Sasse said, “This monster received a pathetically soft sentence last time and his victims deserve nothing less than justice.”

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. also went to bat for Epstein in 2011, arguing that he shouldn’t be labeled a Level 3 sex offender — the worst of the worst — in part because the Florida case against him never resulted in an indictment.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ruth Pickholz denied the motion and said she was “shocked” by the unusual move.

“I have never seen the prosecutor’s office do anything like this,” she said in court at the time. “I have done many [cases] much less troubling than this one where [prosecutors] would never make a downward argument like this.”

A sealed court filing obtained by The Post in April revealed that prior to the hearing, Vance’s office received a confidential state report that gave Epstein a risk-assessment score of 130 points, “solidly above the 110 qualifying number for Level 3,” with “absolutely no basis for downward departure.”

Vance’s spokesman has claimed that the DA was unaware of the move at the time, saying, “Our prosecutor made a mistake.”