Epstein’s lawyers claim he has been ‘a law-abiding citizen’ following his 2008 guilty plea to state-level prostitution charges

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein has asked a federal judge to release him on bail and allow him to remain under house arrest as he awaits trial on charges of sex trafficking underage girls as young as 14 years old.

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In a filing in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, Epstein’s lawyers argued that home confinement, along with electronic monitoring, surveillance and a bond secured by a mortgage on his $77m Manhattan mansion, would be enough to ensure he does not flee the country.

His lawyers said Epstein has been “a law-abiding citizen” following his 2008 guilty plea to state-level prostitution charges.

Prosecutors said at a court hearing on Monday they will oppose Epstein’s release on bail, saying he poses “extraordinary risk of flight” because of his wealth, private planes and significant international ties.

Epstein, 66, was arrested on Saturday evening at Teterboro airport in New Jersey, where he had returned on his private plane from Paris. He pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and conspiracy.

He is accused of sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of underage girls from 2002 to 2005 at his homes in Manhattan, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida.

The indictment charges that Epstein “enticed and recruited, and caused to be enticed and recruited, minor girls” to “engage in sex acts with him, after which he would give the victims hundreds of dollars in cash”.

Prosecutors said authorities encountered “an extraordinary volume” of photographs showing nude and partially nude young women or girls while searching his home following his arrest.

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The Manhattan case comes more than a decade after allegations that Epstein sexually abused minors spurred local and federal criminal investigations and civil suits.

In 2008, Epstein and the Miami US attorney’s office, led by Alexander Acosta, now the US labor secretary, reached a deal that ended a federal investigation involving at least 40 teenage girls. Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges, served 13 months in jail and registered as a sex offender.

Acosta has faced considerable scrutiny for his role in the plea deal, prompting him to defend it in a press conference this week.

On Thursday, Epstein’s lawyers argued for bail, claiming that “during the years since his release from incarceration in connection with his Florida guilty plea, Mr Epstein has been a law-abiding citizen without a single allegation of criminal misconduct during that period and has focused his efforts on business and philanthropy”.

They also said: “Mr Epstein respectfully submits that his conduct over the past 14 years proves that he poses no risk of flight or threat to the safety of the community.”

Epstein’s lawyers said that any risk of flight could be lessened with home detention as the case progresses, plus GPS monitoring.

They also said Epstein could put up a “substantial personal recognizance bond” backed by a mortgage on his $77m Upper East Side mansion and that “Mr Epstein’s private jet can be pledged as further collateral”.

“Mr Epstein’s current notoriety minimizes any conceivable risk of flight even further,” his lawyers also said.

The Manhattan US attorney’s office is expected to file papers on Friday opposing Epstein’s bail request.

In February, the Department of Justice opened an inquiry into the 2008 plea deal. Acosta has defended his role in abandoning a more than 50-page indictment, saying in May: “This matter was appealed all the way up to the deputy attorney general’s office. And not because we weren’t doing enough, but because the contention was that we were too aggressive.”

Epstein, a well-connected financier, was known for socializing with politicians and royalty, with friends who have included Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and, according to court papers, Prince Andrew. None of those people was mentioned in the indictment.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years,” Trump said in a 2002 New York magazine article. “Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Trump has since tried to distance himself from Epstein.

Clinton also said in a statement on Monday that he “knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he had been recently charged in New York”.

On Monday, Epstein’s attorney Reid Weingarten said the fresh allegations were “ancient stuff”, dealt with in prior proceedings. “To us,” he said, “this indictment is essentially a do-over.”

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report