Twelve plaintiffs accuse the FBI of failure and cover-up: There are said to have been early indications of sexual crimes committed by multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, but the federal police did not sufficiently investigate them.
In the USA, several alleged victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have filed a lawsuit against the Federal Police FBI for inadequate investigations against the billionaire. The twelve plaintiffs, who are anonymized in the court documents, accuse the FBI of failing to adequately investigate and ignoring Epstein’s interest in underage girls.
Victims demand compensation
“For more than two decades, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Jeffrey Epstein enabled the sex trafficking and sexual abuse of numerous children and young women by failing to do the job the American people expected of him,” the lawsuit says was filed in a New York court.
The civil lawsuit should now clarify “the FBI’s role in Epstein’s sex trafficking ring once and for all.” The twelve plaintiffs are demanding unspecified compensation. Her lawsuit follows the release last month of court documents that named the identities of 150 to 180 people said to have had ties to Epstein and his former mistress Ghislaine Maxwell.
There are said to have been indications as early as 1996
Epstein was a powerful investment banker with ties to high-ranking figures in the United States and abroad. The US justice system ultimately charged him with raping young women and girls, but he could not be convicted of his death in 2019. According to authorities, the former businessman committed suicide in his New York prison cell.
The lawsuit that has now been filed against the FBI is based on information that from 1996 to 2006 the US Federal Police repeatedly received reports, complaints and tips about sexual crimes and human rights violations by Epstein and his accomplices, but did not sufficiently investigate them.
In 2005, the Palm Beach police informed the FBI that a 14-year-old had been brought to Epstein’s estate for sex. However, the FBI did not initiate an investigation until a year later, according to the lawsuit. The “gross negligence of the FBI” led to “continued sexual abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein” for the twelve plaintiffs.
Contacts in the highest circles
For decades, the abuse of numerous minors is said to have taken place at Epstein’s properties in New York, Florida, Santa Fe and the Virgin Islands. An earlier indictment against Epstein resulted in a very advantageous deal for the entrepreneur, which made him a symbol of a social elite that can get away with crime.
The Epstein case also caused a stir worldwide because the entrepreneur was networked in the highest circles. His celebrity relationships and death gave rise to numerous rumors and conspiracy theories.
Charlotte Voß, ARD New York, tagesschau, February 15, 2024 9:44 a.m