Underage girls who were sexually assaulted by billionaire Jeffrey Epstein win the right to see negotiations that saw him jailed

Publication date: 22 April 2014

Underage girls who were sexually assaulted by billionaire Jeffrey Epstein win the right to see negotiations that saw him jailed for just 18 months

Jeffrey Epstein was accused of paying underage girls - some as young as 14 - for 'erotic massages' at his Florida home and Caribbean island

In 2007, he struck a secret plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to just 18 months in prison

Epstein was friends with the Clintons, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew

An appeals court has ruled that the victims' attorneys can view the negotiation documents that led to the deal, which they call lenient

But his lawyers insist it was 'reached in good faith'

By LYDIA WARREN

PUBLISHED: 14:29 GMT, 22 April 2014 | UPDATED: 16:50 GMT, 22 April 2014

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Sex offender: Jeffrey Epstein served 13 months in prison in 2007 for relations with teen girls

Victims of billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have won the right to see the negotiations that led to an apparently lenient plea deal that saw him avoid federal prosecution.

An appeals court ruled that the two victims, known only as Jane Doe 1 and 2, can soon view the documents - as their attorneys ask whether Epstein's wealth and connections affected his sentence.

Epstein, 61, had counted numerous celebrities, politicians and socialites as friends, including Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Donald Trump and Naomi Campbell.

The financier was first arrested in 2005, after the stepmother of a 14-year-old girl told Florida police that he'd paid the girl $200 for an 'erotic massage'.

An FBI investigation led to Epstein being accused of keeping a harem of women - many of them teenagers - at his luxury homes in New York and Palm Beach, and on a private Caribbean island.

By 2008, the FBI believed it had identified at least 20 victims who might level sexual allegations against the financier in court.

But Epstein struck a plea deal with prosecutors, which saw him plead guilty to a state charge of procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution. The rest of the case was dropped.

He received an 18-month jail sentence, of which 13 were spent behind bars, and was put on Florida’s sex offenders register. He escaped prosecution on more serious pedophilia charges, which might have seen him jailed for life.

Scene: He allegedly paid underage girls for 'erotic massages' at his private Caribbean island, Little St James

But it also also resulted in civil suits being filed against Epstein, who reportedly settled claims from about two dozen young women, some as young as 14, who he allegedly paid for massages.

The latest ruling in the case was issued on Friday and orders federal authorities to disclose the correspondence that took place between Epstein's attorneys and federal prosecutors when they were negotiating the 2007 agreement, the Sun Sentinel reported.

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'We're trying to figure out if Epstein used his political connections and great wealth to secure this kind of arrangement, that was unheard of, frankly, if you look at these charges,' said attorney Paul Cassell.

Court filings say that when federal prosecutors struck the non-prosecution deal with Epstein in September 2007, the victims weren't told.

'Not only did the United States neglect to confer with the victims before it entered into the agreement with Epstein, it also failed to notify them of its existence for at least nine months,' Circuit Judge William H. Pryor wrote in the decision.

Friends: Among his good friends were Bill Clinton (pictured), his wife Hillary, Donald Trump and Naomi Campbell

Now the two victims are hoping that the documents will shed light on the deal, and their attorney hopes that the deal will be invalidated and that Epstein will face a new prosecution.

They have yet to see the documents, however. The attorneys were initially told they would receive them on Monday, but they were not yet ready to be viewed.

One of Epstein's attorney's, Martin Weinberg, insisted that the plea agreement was 'reached in good faith' and that there was nothing improper about the dealings.

He said he will ask the appeal court to review their decision.

Victims win right to see negotiations that led to 'lenient' plea agreement for billionaire sex offender