fbpx

Jeffrey Epstein Denied Bail, Judge Says He Poses Danger

[additional-authors]
July 18, 2019
Jeffrey Epstein in New York City in 2005. (Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images/JTA)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Jeffrey Epstein was denied bail on sex trafficking charges.

A Manhattan federal judge, Richard Berman, said in his ruling Thursday that the 66-year-old financier poses a danger to former victims and potential new ones.

In 2008, Epstein was convicted of abusing dozens of underage girls, but was given what was generally considered a lenient sentence — 13 months in a private wing of a county jail. He was allowed to leave for work six days a week as long as he returned to the facility at night. Epstein, who is Jewish, and his associates were given immunity from federal prosecution.

That agreement has come under scrutiny following Epstein’s arrest and indictment for sex trafficking.

In February, a judge ruled the 2008 deal illegal because the his victims were not notified before the agreement was approved. The case was reopened after a Miami Herald reporter identified some 80 alleged victims who said they were recruited into a sex ring run by Epstein and made to recruit others.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Who’s Really the Victim?

Those who would revel in Israel’s demise are claiming victimhood on every front and denying attacks on us in the same breath.

Biblical Deterrence

After Oct. 7, the sentiment in Israel toward the Iranian leadership was unequivocal: You went medieval — so we will go biblical.

How Sukkot Makes Us Whole

This year, I bless us that we open our eyes to truly see the beauty and the holiness of the world, and of the person before us at each and every moment, and to see the godliness of their aspirations and their fears.

The New Ushpizot

Ushpizin invite us to “welcome in our ancestral constellation and dwell amongst them.” This year, it’s Ushpizot, for the women. It’s the year of the Feminist Visitation.

Macklemore, Or Less

In between his songs, he proclaimed, “Free Palestine,” which is fine, asserted that opposing Israeli military actions is not antisemitic, which is accurate, and accused Israel of apartheid and genocide, which is offensive, untrue and hateful.

The Rokeach’s Remarkable Sukkah

To Rabbi Eleazar ben Judah of Worms (1176-1238), the medieval German pietist known as the Rokeach, the sukkah symbolized Jewish military might.

The Sukkah and the Power of Endurance

They can destroy our Temples, demonize us in social media, shower us with hate, but they can’t destroy a spirit that never stops building. That enduring spirit is the power of the sukkah.

NY Mag’s Habibi City

A satirical response to Zaina Arafat’s erasure of Jews in her New York Magazine article “Habibi City,” written as Zaina Arafat.

The ‘Fauda’ Enigma

In many of the nations that believe Israel has no right to exist and routinely root for terrorists to slaughter Jews, a TV show that depicts Israeli covert operatives outsmarting and dispatching Arabs has an inexplicably loyal global audience.

Jewish Democrats Cave to Anti-Semites

Those of us who are not of the Democrat politic party have believed that the Democrats have done little to stop the disease of Jew hatred from infiltrating their party.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.