JANUARY 7--Bill Cosby must be jealous of Jeffrey Epstein, the perverted financier.

The comedian’s career and public image have been swiftly ruined by allegations that he drugged and molested a series of female victims. Cosby, of course, has never been convicted of a crime.

But the secretive Epstein--who paid scores of underage girls to give him naked massages in his Palm Beach mansion while he masturbated and poked at them with a vibrator--somehow remains welcome in society, academic, and philanthropic circles.

As registered sex offenders go, the 61-year-old Epstein remains a wildly popular guy.

Powered by his purse, the reported billionaire--who once palled around with Britain’s Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, and other royals--remains a prominent patron and donor to individuals and organizations that seem to have little problem accepting money from the felon.

Epstein refers to himself as a “science and education philanthropist” who sponsors “cutting edge science around the world.” In 2012, Epstein hosted Stephen Hawking at a science conference held on his private Caribbean island. The theoretical physicist joined the sex offender, three Nobel Prize winners, and other noted scientists like Lawrence Krauss for a discussion on gravity.

Photos from the conference show Hawking and Krauss (above) on a boat off Little St. James, the Epstein-owned island located near the east end of St. Thomas. In another picture, seen below, Hawking is at an island mixer with Lisa Randall, a theoretical physicist at Harvard University.

According to Epstein, his charitable foundation has sponsored Hawking and other prominent scientists, including Nobel laureates David Gross, Frank Wilczek, Gerard 't Hooft, and the late Gerald Edelman.

Epstein’s island--which is now his principal residence, according to sex offender registries--has recently been the subject of allegations leveled by Virginia Roberts, a former teenage masseuse who claims that she became Epstein's “sex slave.”

Roberts has charged that Epstein pimped her out to his powerful friends--including Prince Andrew and lawyer Alan Dershowitz--at the 78-acre property (where Epstein has also hosted Clinton). Roberts, who was 15 when she first began massaging Epstein, claims that she was forced to engage in an “orgy with numerous other under-aged girls” on Little St. James, which one British tabloid now refers to as the “Island of Sin.”

[Roberts is pictured below with Prince Andrew.]

Since his 2008 conviction, Epstein has donated money to a wide array of institutions. According to an Epstein web site, recipients of his 2014 charitable contributions included the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Mount Sinai Hospital; the MIT Media Lab; Ballet Palm Beach; the National Multiple Sclerosis Society; and Arizona State University (where Krauss is a professor).

Despite Epstein’s status as a registered sex offender, an assortment of charter schools, the Junior Statesmen Foundation, a high school French club, the New York Junior Tennis League, and a student science fair have accepted his donations.

In a 2013 press release touting his philanthropy, Epstein notes that his charitable foundation “supports a wide range of youth initiatives” across the Virgin Islands. Epstein’s prior “youth initiatives” were less commendable, and often involved sex toys like the “Twin Torpedo” or “Jelly Anal Wand,” as well as “Joy Jelly,” a peach-flavored lubricant.

According to police reports, Epstein paid a parade of underage girls at least $200 to disrobe and rub his feet, back, and legs. He would then roll over onto his back and masturbate while groping his teen victims and touching them with a vibrator. By comparison, a licensed Florida masseuse who provided Swedish deep tissue massages to Epstein and his guests told police that she was paid $100 an hour for her fully-clothed services.

During the criminal investigation of Epstein’s illicit activities at his waterfront Palm Beach home, a lawyer for the businessman explained to police that his client was “very passionate about massages,” adding that they were “therapeutic and spiritually sound for him.” As detailed in police reports, none of Epstein’s young masseuses--many of whom attended Royal Palm Beach High School--had any massage training. Though most did wear thong underwear.

Since his felony conviction and jailing, Epstein has made few political contributions. Last year, he sought to donate $35,600 to the gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Gary King, then New Mexico’s attorney general. King, however, was forced to return the donations in the face of news reports that Epstein was a convicted sex offender. The King donations came from several of Epstein’s Virgin Islands-based companies.

Along with his Palm Beach home and Little St. James (seen at left), Epstein owns a sprawling property (“Zorro Ranch”) outside Santa Fe, a Manhattan mansion, and an apartment in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe on Paris’s ritzy Avenue Foch.

Last April, Epstein personally donated $2600 to the campaign of Gwendolyn Beck, an independent candidate in Virginia's 8th congressional district. He also gave $5000 to a political action committee controlled by Beck, who finished a distant third in November’s general election. Beck is pictured here accompanying U.S. Senator Robert Menendez to a 2010 White House state dinner.

Epstein’s contributions to Beck and her PAC came from his business office in St. Thomas, where some of the investor’s firms are headquartered. The office also serves as the mailing address for Little St. James island itself.

Recently, an Epstein aide used the St. Thomas address when advertising for a landscape manager to supervise grounds maintenance on the island. Applicants for the post needed “5+ years experience in the field of landscaping” and a “Bachelor’s degree in horticulture or equivalent horticulture experience.” Additionally, candidates required “Clean driving and criminal record,” according to the ad, which appears to have left out a crucial “no.” (22 pages)