Wealthy financier with New Mexico ties deemed ‘dangerous,’ denied bail in child sex case

A federal judge denied bail for jailed financier Jeffrey Epstein on sex trafficking charges Thursday, saying the danger to the community that would result if the jet-setting defendant was free formed the “heart of this decision.”

Epstein is accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls from New York and Florida, and authorities are looking into whether some of those incidents may have occurred at his New Mexico ranch. He will now remain in jail pending trial.

Epstein, with his hands folded before him, showed no reaction to the announcement by U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, who said: “I doubt that any bail package can overcome danger to the community.”

Epstein, 66, had asked the judge to allow him to live in his large Manhattan mansion under the supervision of armed private security and a court-appointed, live-in trustee who would monitor his compliance with bail conditions.

Prosecutors in the New York U.S. Attorney’s office, however, said there was “overwhelming” evidence that he would likely to flee the country. They said his wealth — including his ownership of a private jet and multiple homes, including his New Mexico ranch, along with the seriousness of the charges he faces, and his behavior in recent weeks should render him ineligible for bail.

Another factor in Judge Berman’s decision was the “compelling testimony” by two of Epstein’s accusers during a bail hearing earlier this week when they said “they fear for their safety and the safety of others if he is released.”

Annie Farmer said she was 16 when Epstein had her sent to New Mexico where he was “inappropriate” with her. Courtney Wild told the judge she was 14 when Epstein sexually abused her in Palm Beach, Florida.

“He’s a scary person to have walking the streets,” Wild said during the Monday hearing.

At that hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller said the government’s case against Epstein is “getting stronger every single day” as more women contact authorities to say he sexually abused them when they were minors.

Rossmiller said the government learned earlier this week that a raid of Epstein’s mansion following his July 6 arrest turned up “piles of cash, dozens of diamonds” and a passport with a picture of the defendant but a name other than his in a locked safe.

In a court filing Wednesday, prosecutors disputed a claim by defense lawyers that there was no evidence he’d ever used it, saying the Austrian passport contained stamps reflecting it was used to enter France, Spain, Britain and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s.

Prior to Thursday’s bail hearing, defense lawyers told the judge Epstein was given the passport by a friend after some Jewish-Americans were informally advised to carry identification bearing a non-Jewish name when traveling internationally during a period when hijackings were more common.

They said he never used it and the passport stamps predated his receipt of the document.

“He is a life-long American citizen. He has no other citizenship or legal permanent residency,” the lawyers wrote.

Defense lawyers told the judge in another court filing earlier this week that Epstein obtained the document out of fear that “as an affluent member of the Jewish faith” he might be kidnaped in the Middle East.

Prosecutors have also argued Epstein was a risk of trying to influence witnesses after it was discovered he had paid a total of $350,000 to two people, including a former employee, in the last year. That came after the Miami Herald reported the circumstances of his state court conviction in 2008, which led to a 13-month jail term and a plea deal that allowed him to avoid a federal prosecution.

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta resigned last week after coming under renewed criticism for overseeing the decade-old arrangement as U.S. attorney in Miami.

Lawyers for Epstein said their client has stayed clean since pleading guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution charges in Florida in 2008 and that the federal government is reneging on the plea deal.