Florida prosecutor painted Epstein victims as prostitutes, grand jury records reveal
A Florida prosecutor painted two of Jeffrey Epstein's victims as prostitutes, drug addicts and liars to a grand jury, shocking new court documents reveal.
Filings against the pedophile financier were unsealed this week by a Palm Beach judge, releasing a trove of documents related to a 2006 case against Epstein.
Epstein infamously walked away from that case with a sweetheart plea deal that saw him serve just 15 months in a low security prison in 2008, while avoiding federal prosecution for his sickening crimes.
He would later be charged with a slew of sex crimes over a decade later, before he killed himself inside a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in August 2019.
The release of the filings came after evidence put forward by the Miami Herald suggesting Epstein used his wealth and influence to sway a Florida state attorney, who then discredited Epstein's young victims.
Jefrey Epstein was able to walk away from a 2006 investigation with an outrageous deal after allegedly exerting influence over Florida prosecutors, with new documents showing how they scathed his young victims before a grand jury
The newly unsealed documents focus on Epstein's crimes committed at his Palm Beach, Florida mansion (pictured), where he targeted hundreds of young girls for over a decade
Although grand jury records are normally kept under seal, mounting pressure led Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to approve releasing the filings this week.
DeSantis referenced the suspicious nature of the grand jury claims against Epstein's victims, saying they may explain how he was able to 'engineer an outcome that the average citizen would likely never have been able' to accomplish.
Included in the 200-pages of unsealed documents was horrific testimony from two girls who were targeted and attacked by Epstein inside his Palm Beach mansion.
Their claims against him included one saying the pedophile would pleasure himself in front of her in the massage room of his mansion, and also forcibly used a sex toy on her.
One said he raped her when she was underage as she 'screamed no' before offering her $1,000 as an apology.
But despite courts hearing sickening claims, Epstein evaded serious charges at the time, with critics pointing to Palm Beach prosecutor Barry Krischer as he decided against bringing felony sexual assault charges and opted for lesser charges.
The filings also led to scrutiny over the lead prosecutor in the case, Lanna Belohlavek, who was the one who reportedly scathed the two young victims before the grand jury.
The documents were released due to pressure from Florida legal circles, with many pointing to Palm Beach state attorney Barry Krischer's (pictured) decision to bring lesser charges to Epstein in 2006
Lead prosecutor in the case, Lanna Belohlavek, is accused of discrediting Epstein's young victims and painting them as prostitutes when they went before a grand jury
Krischer's decision not to bring more serious charges sparked fury in Florida legal circles, with his reasoning being that the girls were believed to be 'prostitutes', so juries were less likely to side with them.
The move was furiously opposed Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter and the case's lead detective Joe Recarey, who protested over the fact that some victims were as young as 14, the Miami Herald reports.
Spencer Kuvin, the attorney representing one of the girls who testified before the grand jury, told the outlet that the shocking way the case's were handled was indicative of the influence exerted over prosecutors.
'There was no reason to take this case to a grand jury in the first place,' he said.
'They had evidence of numerous victims to show that he was a serial sex predator. The only reason they gave it to the grand jury was to taint their own case and have an excuse not to prosecute.'
According to the reported release, Belohlavek jumped on the two victims' broken homes to discredit their testimonies.
Epstein walked away from the case with lesser charges, despite the victims' attorney claiming there was 'evidence of numerous victims to show that he was a serial sex predator'
For one, she explained that the victim and her sister attended a school for troubled juveniles while their parents traded custody of them numerous times.
The victim joined a group of older kids, one of whom took her to Epstein's mansion, which led her to a terrifying encounter with the notorious predator when she was just 14-years-old.
She claimed in the grand jury filing that she was quickly taken to a large bedroom and told to strip to her underwear, before reluctantly complying with Epstein's sexual demands in a haze of confusion.
After he molested her, Epstein paid the teen $200.
But before the jury, Belohlavek was far from sympathetic, and questioned the victim: 'You're aware that you committed a crime?'
'Now I am. I didn’t know it was a crime when I was doing it,' she replied. 'I don’t know. I guess it was prostitution or something like that.'
An 18-year-old victim testified that she was around 16 when she first went to Epstein’s house after being told there was a 'man in Palm Beach and he was looking for girls'. He is seen in Palm Beach in 200 with Maxwell and former President Donald Trump and Melania
Another victim, who was 18 when she testified, said she was drawn into Epstein's circle when she was 16, after she was told there was a 'man in Palm Beach and he was looking for girls'.
The friend who lured her there told her to 'dress very girly', and said that over 10 visits she was paid $200 a time and Epstein asked her to be ‘completely naked’.
In her testimony, the girl said Epstein asked to touch her but she said no so he would masturbate himself.
But the last time she visited, the day before her 18th birthday, he had sex with her.
The girl said: 'He told me to lay down because he was going to crack my back, which he had done before. And he just sort of did it'
Epstein paid her $300 for sex and stopped calling her after that final visit, she testified.
