Florida, US

A court in the US state of Florida has ordered the release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein's case, in a surprise move that will shed light on  the macabre crimes of late sex offender, including payments to minors.

Advertisment

The documents including grand jury material - some of them graphic- run into around 200 pages and relates to one of the first cases against the financier-sex trafficker.

It has first-hand victim accounts specifics about payments to underage girls, in several cases to buy their silence.

Also read: Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues 'beyond the grave'.

Advertisment

Epstein escaped from being charged of sex trafficking and rape in that case after pleading guilty to a less serious charge, only to continue with his crimes, until eventually being caught in 2018.

"Details in the record will be outrageous to decent people," wrote Circuit Judge Luis Delgado on Monday (July 1) while ordering the release of the documents from 16 years ago. He described Epstein "the most infamous pedophile in American history."

The documents include victim accounts and how underage girls were paid off by Epstein, who died in a prison cell in New York in 2019 while awaiting trial.

Advertisment

Who was Jeffrey Epstein?

Epstein was a New York-based financier with links to prominent politicians and business bigwigs, and even British royalty.

He was arrested in 2018 after strong media coverage of his crimes. Multiple survivors of his years of sexual abuse came forth and sued him, years after he escaped the wrath of law in 2008 in Florida.

Eventually he was arrested, only to be found dead in prison even as stories, documentaries and leaked records of his crimes continued to tumble out of the closet.

Also read: Explained: Murky story of Epstein's 'paedophile island' 

Subject of a Netflix documentary Filthy Rich, Epstein's crimes haunted his associates in years since his death, mainly his former associate and rumoured girlfriend, the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell, after months of hiding, was eventually detained in the US and is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for helping Epstein carry out his sex trafficking crimes.

Epstein's modus operandi

In houses across the US and abroad, Epstein essentially ran a prostitution network that included several underage girls. He violated federal laws by moving the women and girls across state borders to present to his clients.

Maxwell and other enablers lured the victims through 'massage services' for him, which many of the girls - several from troubled households- entered into for a quick buck, but eventually got dragged into a network of prostitution.

Epstein also entertained big politicians and business tycoons and even a British prince, flying them in private jets to his mansion in Little Saint James, a small private island in the US Virgin Islands. During his ownership of the place from 1998 till his death in 2019, it was known as 'Epstein Island' and later became notorious as 'paedophile island.'

Current US presidential contender Donald Trump, former president Bill Clinton, Britain's Prince Andrew, and tech tycoon Bill Gates were associated with Epstein at different points in time, though their direct involvement in his criminal past has not been proven beyond doubt.

Not the first tranche of documents  

This is not the first time that court documents related to Epstein cases were released. Highly redacted tranche of documents had been released since 2019, including those related to case filed by Virginia Guiffre.

Guiffre was one of the most prominent accusers of Epstein, who galvanised a network of survivors and won the cases against him.

(With inputs from agencies)