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THE PALM BEACH POST 
• 
FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 16, 2007 
The Palm Beach Post 
TOM GIUEERIDA. Publisher 
JOHN BARTOSEK, Edaor 
CHARLES GERARDI, General Mauler 
BILL ROSE. Maxaguir Editor 
RANDY SCHULTZ. Editor of the Editorial Page 
JAN TUCKWOOD, Associate Editor 
BARRY BERG, VP Cimtlation LARRY SIEDUK. VP& Thwarter 
JOHN KELLY. VP Advertisigg 
GALE BOWDEN, VP Coutimatity Regan and Mariam 
LINDA MURPHY. VP Han Resources 
BOB BALFE. VP Opera:iota 
LAURA DECK CUNNINGHAM. Arnim Market* Smug, 
DAN SHORTER. General Mariam PahuBeat*Post corn 
How will system judge 
Palm Beach predator? 
We soon will find out whether 
big money can buy from the crimi-
nal justice system what everyone 
assumes that big money can buy. 
The penalty news reports say 
part-time Palm Beach resident 
Jeffrey Epstein is expected to face 
suggests that he will plead guilty 
to something more than one felony 
count for solicitation of prostitution. 
A Palm Beach County grand jury 
indicted the Manhattan money 
manager on that charge in July 
2006. But a guilty plea that does not 
recognize the age of the girls whom 
police say the billionaire paid for 
sex would be a disservice to the 
girls, an insult to the investigators 
who pressed the case and, for good 
measure, a general outrage. 
Palm Beach police have said that 
Jeffrey Epstein. 54, paid underage 
girls, one as young as 14, to come to 
his 720D-square-foot waterfront home 
for 'massage sessions. Mice said 
interviews with five alleged victims 
and 17 witnesses under oath, phone 
messages. a high school transcript 
and other items they found in Mr. 
Epstein's trash and home show that 
he knew how young the girls were. 
But after Mr Epstein§ attorneys told 
prosecutors about the girls' MySpace 
pages, which mentioned marijuana 
and alcohol use, State Attorney Barry 
Krischer sent the case to a grand jury. 
instead of filing charges himself 
Blaming these victims, however, 
does not make them any more de-
serving of what happened. And Mr. 
Krischer's unnecessary handoff to a 
grand jury, after an 11-month police 
investigation, more than reinforced 
Jeffrey Epstein case 
comes to turning point. 
the public understanding that 
the more money the accused has, 
the biker the break he gets. Mt 
Epstein§ legal team includes West 
Palm Beach defense attorney Jack 
Goldberger, Harvard Law School 
Professor Alan Dershowitz, who 
worked on the OJ. Simpson murder 
case, and Kenneth Start who once 
pursued a president based on his 
lies about sex with young women. 
Federal authorities also stepped 
in, which stalled the state§ case 
for another year. On Nov. 9, citing 
an unnamed source dose to Jeffrey 
Epstein. Jose Lambiet of The Post 
wrote that the federal investigation 
is over, and Mc Epstein is ex 
to serve up to 18 months an could 
be labeled a sex offender in crimi-
nal records. The charge the grand 
jury returned more than a year ago 
carries a maximum five-year prison 
term and no "sex offender label. 
"This case," Mc. Goldberger told 
Mr Lambiet, "is absolutely going to 
end without a trial within the next 
two months." State attorney spokes-
man Michael Edmondson would 
not confirm any plea deal But, he 
noted: 'The state attorney's hands 
are not tied by there being a single 
grand jury charge. That does not 
preclude additional charges" 
Jeffrey Epstein, like too many 
men in Florida. preyed on teenaged 
girls. The system should not let him 
buy his way out of that reality. 
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