Inconsistent jail registration of Jeffrey Epstein raises questions about sheriff and state agency oversight

Even from jail, Jeffrey Epstein manipulated the system | Miami Herald Page 12 of 17 Case 1:19-cv-03377 Document 1-1 Filed 04/16/19 Page 13 of 18 conflicting explanations over the past six months about who is responsible for ensuring that he is complying with the law. On Nov. 14, the Herald asked the sheriff’s office for a full accounting of Epstein’s check-ins for 2018. The record the office supplied two days later showed he registered in January and in July — as required. But PBSO also inexplicably had him registering on Nov. 14 — the very same day that the Herald asked for the records from the sheriff’s office. When asked about this sudden registration, Barbera replied: “The information we provided you was a snapshot from the FDLE website. Perhaps, someone from FDLE can provide a reason for you.” Said FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger in an email: “The screenshot is not on the public registry. This is information inputted by the local agency when the offender comes into the local sheriff’s office to register.” Plessinger said Epstein is not covered by the state’s new three-day rule, which requires sex offenders to re-register when they come to stay in Florida for three days or more. His town of Palm Beach home is already on file, as a temporary residence, she said. So it’s not clear why he would have suddenly registered a third time on Nov. 14. State Sen. Lauren Book, a child sex abuse survivor and vocal advocate for tough sex offender monitoring, called the case an appalling example of how those in the justice system allow wealthy people to skirt the law and bend the rules. “These prosecutors, and judges and sheriffs who are making these decisions and allowing things to fly — we have to hold these people accountable. They are supposed to uphold the law — regardless of who a person is and how much money they have in the bank or who they had on their airplane.” Piece by piece Over the years, Courtney Wild, Virginia Roberts and more than a dozen other women who say they were victims of Epstein have been quietly challenging the traditional legal norms that have failed to punish Epstein and other men in positions of power for sexual abuse. Epstein has paid millions of dollars in civil compensation that, for the most part, has kept the details about his operation out of the public eye. As a result, much — but not all — of the testimony and evidence collected as part of the vast litigation has been sealed or redacted from public court records. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article2 19494920 html 4/3/2019 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017812