How mogul Jeffrey Epstein recruited young women to abuse them

A second batch of court documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein show how dozens of girls were recruited at his beachfront mansion.

Thirty women told a Florida police detective that they had talked about “doing massages and jobs” there and some of them were paid money to bring their friends, the officer testified.

The court records, which make up a lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's detained ex-girlfriend, were made public by order of a judge.

Maxwell was arrested in 2022 for trafficking minors for Epstein. Much of the material in this batch of documents, as well as the 900 pages unsealed Wednesday, had already come to light during her trial.

In a 2016 deposition, Joseph Recarey, a police detective in Palm Beach, Florida, said that approximately 30 women had spoken to him about “performing massages and jobs at Epstein's home” in that coastal community.

Recarey also said that Maxwell was involved in recruiting the girls, that only two of them had massage experience and that most were under 18 years old.

Asked how Epstein was able to access so many underage girls, the detective said: “Each of the victims who came to the house were asked to bring their friends.”

Some were paid to recruit them, he said. Recarey also added: “When they were going to perform a massage, it was for sexual satisfaction.” [de Epstein]”.

More than 150 people mentioned

Judge Loretta Preska ruled last month that there was no longer legal justification for withholding the names of more than 150 people named in the defamation case against Maxwell brought by Virginia Giuffre, one of the plaintiffs against Epstein.

Numerous people are named in the documents as part of various legal proceedings, which does not necessarily suggest that they have committed illegal acts related to Epstein.

Court records released Wednesday and Thursday contain references to Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom and former US President Bill Clinton.

Among the allegations detailed above against Prince Andrew are that he sexually abused a minor in London, New York and on Epstein's island in the Virgin Islands, after Maxwell gave the teenager orders to do so.

The Duke of York has denied these allegations.

The new documents also include a suggestion from plaintiff's attorney Virginia Giuffre that former President Clinton “might have information” about Maxwell and Epstein's activities by having traveled with them.

Clinton acknowledged having been linked to Epstein and having traveled on the millionaire's private jet on humanitarian trips, but denied having committed crimes or having knowledge of them.

None of the documents suggest any illegality on Clinton's part.

In the latest batch of documents, Giuffre says the former US president stormed Vanity Fair magazine and told them not to write sex trafficking articles about “his good friend” Epstein.

The BBC contacted the Clinton Foundation for a response and a spokesperson cited media reports of a statement by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter saying the alleged incident “categorically did not occur.”

The BBC has contacted Condé Nast, the parent company of Vanity Fair, for comment.

Email exchange

In another thread of emails, between former Mail on Sunday journalist Sharon Churcher and Giuffre, they discuss a proposal from Vanity Fair magazine to buy a photo of her.

The journalist advises the plaintiff to say that she has nothing more to reveal at that time about how she was allegedly a victim of sex trafficking for “two of the most respected politicians in the world.”

The politicians allegedly involved are not named in the emails.

In another court document released Wednesday, a plaintiff identified as NN No. 3 says Epstein trafficked her “for sexual purposes to numerous other powerful men, including numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known prime minister, minister and other world leaders.

NN No. 3 has previously been named in the media as Virginia Giuffre.

The new files released include documents from Maxwell's lawyers in which they maintain that the journalist Churcher had helped “concoct” accusations against Prince Andrew, as well as against the American lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

The BBC has contacted Churcher and the Mail on Sunday to include their position on the issue.

Dershowitz filed a motion to release the documents Thursday, following a request from the Miami Herald. Dershowitz denied any wrongdoing.

“There is irrefutable evidence that has not been made known. It concerns the credibility – and lack thereof – of some plaintiffs and some defendants. I have seen these documents suppressed. Nothing should be suppressed,” he told Fox News Thursday the former Harvard Law professor.

Epstein pleaded guilty to seeking prostitution services from a minor in 2008 and took his own life in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Maxwell, daughter of publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role as Epstein's recruiter.

His lawyers are appealing the sentence.

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