Investigative journalist Vicki Ward,, commissioned to write an article about Epstein for Vanity Fair in 2003 describes him as a ‘Gatsby-like man of mystery’..  At the time he was known to be rich, with links to important people, and was something of a celebrity, but little was known about how he had become a millionaire with a glamorous and for many people enviable lifestyle. 

Despite having lied his way into his first job as a teacher at a well regarded school, being dismissed from the Wall Street firm Bear Stearns for breach of financial law (Regulation D violation), he seems to have survived with no damage to his reputation.  He was seen as part of the glamorous celebrity set, voted as Cosmopolitan’s Bachelor of the Month in July 1980.

Friends in high places

Having gained a reputation as a financial troubleshooter, Epstein had no difficulty in becoming extremely wealthy when he set up his own consultancy, boasting that he only accepted clients who were billionaires or royalty.  One client was Les Wexler, owner of Victoria’s Secret; Epstein became well known as his chief financial consultant.  Donald Trump became a friend and near neighbour and spoke about how they shared a liking for women. Others included Bill Clinton, Woody Allen, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, numerous academics whose work he donated to, political leaders across the board, plus leaders from African and near Eastern countries and members of European royal families.

These associations proved useful in creating a sense of him being above suspicion.

Buying privacy

Millionaire abusers are able to buy property that protects them from prying eyes.  In Epstein’s case there were a number:  the Zorro Ranch in the middle of a desert in New Mexico;  a private Island, Little St James, one of the US Virgin Islands known colloquially as Pedophile Island; a Palm Beach mansion in Florida with high hedges and neighbours who support the right to privacy; luxury apartments in New York and Paris guaranteeing privacy behind closed doors. Shortly before his death he had bought Great St James Island with plans for development, and planed to to buy property in Marrakesh. He also appeared to be interested in buying property in London.

All offered privacy away from prying eyes, with staff too fearful of repercussions to talk about anything they might have seen, as police discovered when they tried to interview the Palm Beach staff.  In the case of Little St James, staff from St Thomas Island were brought in in the morning, taken back late afternoon before the visitors were helicoptered in; anything incriminating was disposed of before they returned the following morning.

What privacy enabled

With the support of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein was enabled to enjoy non consensual sexual activity with underage girls and a means of enhancing his status by providing similar benefits to others.  Thus he was able to exercise control not only over the young women and children affected but also his fellow abusers.

He and Maxwell were both expert at detecting those who were most needy as a result of previous abuse or material deprivation.  It was not about consensual sexual relationships in any sense: they both took pleasure in exercising power over others, behaving as predators towards those whom they clearly regarded as prey, inferiors put there for their entertainment. Epstein was fond of telling people – including those he abused – that he regarded women as “merely a life support system for a vagina.”

Underage girls were lured into the Epstein/Maxwell project with promises of careers as masseuses or the chance of becoming Victoria’s Secret models or schemes to improve career chances; stage by stage they were then drawn into a range of sexual activities; in many cases money was an incentive – £200 or more for each “massage” or for participating in a pyramid scheme to lure other girls into participating.

According to psychologist Kathryn Stamoulis, abusers of vulnerable victims are able to recognise their needs and exploit them.  Those who are abused are not equipped to react appropriately or understand what’s happening and at times can only manage to detach themselves from it.  This leads to patterns of behaviour and “frozen” reactions that are all too familiar to those affected by Epstein’s and Maxwell’s abuse.

Epstein enhanced his sense of power by providing similar services for his ultra rich friends, recording their activities via photographs and videos.  Some of those accused include billionaire Les Wexler, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Jean-Luc Brunel, Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor.

Epstein’s initial friendly conversations with the women and children he exploited extracted information about their families. These were then exploited to ensure their obedience.  For example, when Virginia Roberts (later Giuffre) wanted to remove herself from Epstein’s control she was shown a picture of her younger brother and told that Epstein knew where to find him.  The threat was obvious.

Epstein has also sought to enhance his respectability by sustaining apparent friendships with those in high places such as Bill Clinton, and through financial support for projects involving leading academics.

His lack of concern for the women he lends out is all too apparent.  When Virginia Roberts was physically seriously abused by one of his clients (bleeding from anus, vagina and mouth) he simply shrugged shoulders and said “it happens”. People are replaceable.

There have also been concerns about women possibly killed at the Zorro Ranch as a result of rough sex; these are taken seriously enough to be under investigation.  Reports about Epstein’s comments about the additional benefits of sexual abuse of trans women are out there but still remain to be proved.

Buying the law

The Vanity Fair article by Vicki Ward mentioned earlier was to have included information about Maria Farmer, one of the earliest women to have experienced abuse by Epstein and Maxwell in 1995; she had reported the abuse to the FBI but received no response.  Her younger sister, Annie, then sixteen, was invited, without her sister’s knowledge, to the Zorro Ranch to discuss a student programme supporting travel, found that instead of being one of a number of students invited she was there alone with Epstein and Maxwell; she was also abused.  Ward wished to include this information in her article.  She was contacted by message asking where she was to give birth to the baby she was carrying: “Don’t worry – we’ll find out.” The editor was deterred from publication by threats  – a severed cat’s head appeared on his lawn and a bullet was sent to his house – and refused to publish the information Ward included saying “it did not meet our legal threshold.”  The final article was published under the headline The Talented Mr Epstein.

In 1990 Epstein bought a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida. In 2005 a girl’s mother contacted Palm Springs Police Department after discovering that her stepdaughter had been paid $300 for a “massage” and “other stuff” by an older man: there were fears that she was involved in a sexual relationship with him.  The ensuing investigation involved interviews with fifteen other girls, all minors, who had been invited to give a massage to Epstein and paid between $200 and $300 for doing so.  All had been asked to strip whilst doing so and stated that Epstein masturbated.  Some had been exposed to inappropriate sexual touching. They and others had been offered $300 if they brought in other girls as part of a pyramid scheme.  All those involved were under eighteen, the age of consent in Florida.

Though Palm Beach is known for its millionaire mansions, nearby is a different world with areas of deprivation.  Many of the girls interviewed came from this area.

Eventually the Palm Beach police gathered enough evidence, with enough witnesses willing to speak up about their experiences to bring what they thought should be a watertight case to court which should result in a prison term of fifteen years for Epstein.

In 2008 when they arrived for the hearing Palm Springs police were astonished to discover that a plea bargain, a non-prosecution agreement, had been made resulting in an eighteen month sentence for Epstein in return for admitting to lesser charges: this deal was negotiated by the then US  Attorney Alex Acosta. 

Epstein pleaded guilty to two state prostitution charges including soliciting a minor for prostitution. He regarded the punishment he received as unnecessarily harsh.

His sentence was eighteen months of which he served thirteen in the county jail, during which time he was allowed out for twelve hours for six days a week to visit his office to work. This protected him from federal prosecution and granted immunity to potential co-conspirators. He was also required to register as a sex offender.

Victim survivors were not notified about the deal.

Alex Acosta claimed that this was necessary because of “unreliable” witnesses.

The ending?

In July 1919 Epstein was arrested in New York. On  10 August he died apparently by suicide though this has been disputed.  Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested and imprisoned in 2022. Jeffrey Epstein’s estate paid over $121 million in compensation to 135 victims between 2019 and 2021.

Virginia Giuffre took her own life in April 2025; her book Nobody’s Girl was published in October 2025.  Millionaires continue to purchase property that guarantees lack of observation from the rest of the world and freedom to do whatever they choose.  Victim survivors remain traumatised by what they have endured.

Not the end

The way in which women, including young women and girls, are abused will continue.  Globally 38% of girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation according to Dr Awino Okech of SOAS, London University.  The trafficking of girls and young women cannot be separated from the injustices perpetuated by a capitalist system that values wealth over humanity.  Already the debate is shifting to the financial and political misdemeanours of figures such as Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.  The injustices towards and exploitation of women needs to be at the top of the agenda for any country claiming to be civilised.