Palm Beach Grand Jury Indicts Jeffrey Epstein Amid Allegations of Prosecutorial Favoritism and High‑Profile Political Ties

But instead of proceeding with such charges on his own, the Palm Beach County state attorney took the rare step of presenting a broad range of possible charges to a grand jury, which indicted Mr. Epstein in July on the lesser count. In Florida, prosecutors usually refer only capital cases to grand juries. Even before the indictment, the Palm Beach police chief, Michael Reiter, had accused prosecutors of giving Mr. Epstein special treatment and asked the state attorney, Barry E. Krischer, to remove himself from the case. In an editorial, The Palm Beach Post attacked Mr. Krischer, a Democrat whose post is elective, saying the public had been left “to wonder whether the system tilted in favor of a wealthy, well-connected alleged perpetrator and against very young girls who are alleged victims of sex crimes.” The case has taken a toll on the reputation of Mr. Epstein, who owns a palatial home in Manhattan, has pledged $30 million to Harvard and once flew former President Bill Clinton on his 727. Politicians including Eliot Spitzer, a Democratic candidate for governor in New York, and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, also a Democrat, have returned campaign contributions from him. But Mr. Epstein fought back, assembling a team of star lawyers, including Gerald B. Lefcourt and Alan M. Dershowitz, a friend of his, to look into the backgrounds of his young accusers. Mr. Lefcourt says that the police acted “outrageously” and that his client has been wrongfully dragged through the mud. “He disputes that he ever had sex with any under-age person or anything like that,” said Mr. Lefcourt, whose clients have included Russell Crowe, Martha Stewart and Abbie Hoffman. Neither the police nor the state attorney’s office would discuss the case in detail. But the police released a thick report on the 13-month investigation after the indictment was unsealed in late July. The police started investigating Mr. Epstein in March 2005, almost immediately after they were contacted by the stepmother of the 14-year-old, who, according to the report, was in a special school for students with disciplinary problems. The girl, the report said, told the police that an older friend had “offered her an opportunity to make money” and had driven her to Mr. Epstein’s house one Sunday. The friend, identified by the police as Haley Robson, a local community college student, told the girl to say she was 18 if Mr. Epstein asked, the report said. The girl told the police that Mr. Epstein’s assistant had led her upstairs to a room with a massage table and that Mr. Epstein had come in and told her to remove her clothes. She said Mr. Epstein had masturbated as she massaged him, had pressed a vibrator against her underwear and had given her $300 afterward. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021784