Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Feds give perv EPSTEIN 'free pass' to keep molesting girls

Episode Date: April 21, 2021

Was Jeffrey Epstein given a reprieve from prosecution to continue molesting young girls? The allegation emerged in documents that were unsealed as part of the sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate. Maxwell allegedly took sexually explicit photographs of teenage girls and gave them to Jeffrey Epstein for his birthday. The records show that in February 2016, attorneys for one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, informed federal prosecutors that Maxwell had taken the images of the girl when she was just 16 years old. Epstein by this time had already pleaded guilty to prostitution under state law in Florida, but he had avoided federal charges under a non-prosecution agreement.Joining Nancy Grace today: Jessica Pride - Sexual Assault Attorney, The Pride Law Firm, victimlawyer.com, Instagram: @thepridelawfirm, Twitter: @pridelawyer Dr. Teresa Gil, Ph.D. - Professor of Psychology and Psychotherapist, 25 years Working with Child Abuse and Trauma Victims, Teresa Gil PHD.com, Author: "Women Who Were Sexually Abused as Children: Mothering, Resilience, and Protecting the Next Generation" Karen L. Smith - Forensic Expert, Lecturer at the University of Florida, Host of Shattered Souls Podcast, @KarensForensic, barebonesforensic.com Charlie Lankston - Charlie Lankston, FeMail Editor, DailyMail.com, Twitter/Instagram:@charlielanks  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. In the last hours, revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein child sex trafficking allegations. As we wait for his pimp, his madam, social like Ghislaine Maxwell, to go to trial, we are now learning she's not the only one with blame. There's plenty to go around. Is it true that three years before charges were brought, federal prosecutors refused to investigate claims of child sex molestation. Did they give Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell a free pass to continue molesting girls for three more years before charges were brought. Take a listen to this.

He said that he could get me into the Fashion Institute of Technology and that he knew that he could get me straight in, he would pay for my schooling. And I know that they didn't even phone FIT. That was never going to happen. They went out of their way to play games to make you believe. I mean, they helped me on my essay. It was just all a big lie and just complete manipulation. You are hearing Sarah Ransom, the Miami Herald, just cracked this thing wide open.

And according to reports, it was only because Epstein was busted by the Miami Herald, not prosecutors who sat by and twiddled their thumbs for three years, but only when it became public, when they were outed, having done nothing since Epstein's sweetheart deal, allowing Epstein to go on to molest how many more young girls. Only when the Miami Herald busted them did charges suddenly emerge. With me is an all-star panel to try to make sense of it all. First of all, Jessica Pryde, sex assault attorney with the Pride Law Firm. With me, Dr. Teresa Gill, professor of psychology and psychotherapist, author of Women Who Were Sex Abused as Children, investigator Karen L. Smith, forensic expert, lecturer, University of Florida, and host of Shattered Souls podcast.

But first, to Charlie Langston, editor at Daily Mail, and you can find her on Insta at Charlie Langston. Charlie, this is very, very disturbing. It's one thing to think of a millionaire pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, molesting girls in his mansion, which was just torn down, by the way, thank God. It's another thing to think of Ghislaine Maxwell, his socialite girlfriend, egging the girls on, standing by, smiling as he molested them, sometimes taking part according to them. It's a whole nother ballgame to think federal prosecutors sat on their thumbs doing nothing. Isn't it true, Charlie, that they were given information that Ghislaine Maxwell took nude photos of a young girl, nude photos, explicit photos,

and gave them to Jeffrey Epstein as a birthday gift. And even with that knowledge, they did nothing. What happened? I mean, they did absolutely nothing. And what we're learning now is the extent of this sweetheart deal that they struck with Epstein that effectively prevented him from having to face any federal charges whatsoever. They punted the case back to the state. Wait, Charlie, Charlie, hold on. That's what it purported to do. Let me understand something. Now, you are talking about the sweetheart deal

that occurred around 2007 down in Florida. It was first a federal case, and the feds somehow kicked it down to a state court where he pled guilty to two counts of soliciting minors for prostitution and was basically given a slap on the wrist that was in 2007 correct yes that's correct okay i'm talking about a 2016 meeting, nine years later. Okay. All these years, he's still molesting girls. Hey, you know what? You don't believe me? Take a listen to this more from the Miami Herald. But when you're in, you can't get out. That's it. Like when you are in, you are in and you are in deep. If I didn't do what he said, he would make sure

that I would not be working in New York. And I was terrified, I was so, I'm still afraid for my life. And I was, I was so scared. I just think I disassociated, I was just like, okay, this is happening, I'm like, what do you do? I mean like, I remember thinking, okay, I've never done this before, not where'm like, what do you do? I mean, like, I remember thinking, okay, I've never done this before. Not, where am I?

What's going on? I went into free, and I kind of go into freeze disassociation mode. It would make anyone second guess themselves and say, what the manipulation that's happening, the exploitation that's happening is damaging, but I must be the crazy one because everyone around knows what's going on and is allowing it to happen and is enabling him and is playing into it. You are hearing our friend at the Miami Herald, Sarah Ransom.

You're also hearing Marjeet Chartouni and Bradley Edwards speaking. Charlie Langston, one moment. Let me go now to Dr. Teresa Gill, Ph.D., professor of psychology and psych Edwards speaking. Charlie Langston, one moment. Let me go now to Dr. Teresa Gill, Ph.D., professor of psychology and psychotherapist. Doctor, thank you for being with us. I've had a lot of child molestation victims and rape victims, but particularly child molestation victims

state that during the molestation, they seem to, quote, disassociate from their body. What does that mean? So what happens to the body, and it happens without your control, when you're in a situation that feels overwhelming and feels like life and death, your body does two things. It goes into fight flight. But if you're 14, 15 or 16 and you're on an island and nobody else is around you or you

don't have people who are going to stand by you that you see as allies, it is not a safe thing to go fight flight. So what happens is you just collapse. And with that collapse of physiological signs, like you go pale, you stop breathing, you shut down, and you actually separate from reality. Like one woman said when she was on the plane and they were going to the island and they were having sex on the plane, she just pretended like she looked around her. Everybody was acting as if things were normal and she pretended she didn't see it and she fell asleep. And that would be a typical response to somebody who's overwhelmed and trying to manage the experience that would be a typical response to somebody who's overwhelmed

and trying to manage the experience that they're going through. I've had adult victims of child molestation describe what you just said with me is Dr. Teresa Gill. And she's the author of Women Who Were Sexually Used as Children, Mothering, Resilience, Protecting the Next Generation. This is her specialty. I didn't really know what it meant as just being a trial lawyer, Dr. Gill. But I noticed that time after time after time, adult victims of child molestation would recount what happened to them as a child and they seem to completely I know this isn't the right phraseology come out of their bodies or they would the only good

word is disassociate from what was happening to them and they literally can come out of their bodies and many times they'll say that they're watching it yes I was gonna tell you that dr. Gill but I thought it sounded far-fetched. They have told me, and not just one, but many. So it's not like one little girl or one little boy dreamed this up, that they felt they could see from above them, like up in the ceiling or at the door to the room, what was happening. They were that disassociated. And you're hearing that here from this Epstein victim.

Being molested, she felt she disassociated from her body. And we hear that over and over and over. But now, to just rub salt in the wound. Is it true? And I think it is, and I'll tell you why. Federal prosecutors, after his sweetheart deal in 2007, fast forward 2016, he'd been molesting all those nine years. Prosecutors are told what's happening in the Southern District of New York. Epstein is still molesting girls, and they did nothing.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we are talking about a huge travesty of justice, and it pains me to point the finger at prosecutors who are there to protect us. There are notes, Charlie Langston, joining me from Daily Mail, there are notes that existed from that 2016 meeting signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney A.K., which I believe stands for Amanda Kramer, that she had this meeting with some of the victim's lawyers and that she put in a call to the FBI down in Florida and they didn't call back. So she dropped the case. She did nothing. I mean, I think that's the most shocking thing to me is that the excuse for not pursuing a case was simply because she didn't hear back from the FBI in Florida. And apparently that meant that they had no problem with how the case had been handled way back in 2007. To my mind, not receiving a call from someone and failing

to try and get in contact again, that's nothing in comparison with the evidence that she was being told about. She had three lawyers not only telling her about the abuse that Virginia Roberts said she'd suffered at the hands of Epstein, but she also had evidence that he had conspirators helping him with this abuse, that there was evidence in the form of nude photographs that had been taken, and that this had been going on, as you said, for nine years after a sweetheart deal was struck in Florida. So the fact that a case was not brought after this meeting is absolutely astounding to me. I want to let you hear what exactly these molestation victims are saying. None of this would have come to light if it had not been for the Miami Herald. Listen.

Ghislaine Maxwell was Jeffrey's right hand woman. The Leslie Gruffs, the Sarah Kellams, they like it's this network, which is just mind blowing. And they're so good. They are so they are like mastermind manipulators. And that's what really upsets me when, you know, I've had one or two people say, you know, I should have known better, you know. I don't think, they've fooled the entire world. So, of course they're going to manipulate us. A 22-year-old who's never been here.

I was here for two weeks. I didn't know a single soul. But still, because I was overage and in my twenties, I should have known better. I didn't know better. I was on my own. And then I fell into Jeffrey's trap. So it was just abuse, abuse, abuse, abuse. And it wasn't my fault.

And that's what he preys on. He looks for people that are vulnerable and hurt and have come from broken people. And he promises he'll fix from. And broken. And broken. And broken people. And he promises he'll fix you. Yeah. And instead, he breaks you even more. I know.

Yeah. I know. Yeah, he broke me pretty bad. He's good at that. You are hearing Sarah Manson, Virginia Roberts, Jeffrey, an outspoken victim of Jeffrey Epstein's, allegedly. Now, she is telling you her age then, but what about the young girls he managed to lure into his trap? Joining me, a very well-known sex assault attorney, the Pride Law Firm. Joining me is Jessica Pride. Jessica, that is a common theme that I have heard

from rape victims and child molestation victims, they always think it's their fault. Did you hear what she said? I didn't know anybody. I didn't know really what was happening. But, hey, it was my fault because I went with them. Unfortunately, that's what survivors do is they blame themselves. And they recount the steps and what they did or didn't do and try to justify or figure out how they somehow got themselves into that

situation. But survivors need to remember to put the blame where the blame belongs. And that's with the perpetrators. And in this case, it's with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and all his conspirators that helped him abuse children for over a decade. I want to go back to Charlie Langston joining me. Charlie has been on the story from the very beginning. She is a senior editor at Daily Mail. Charlie, we know the name of the assistant U.S. attorney who held that 2016 meeting. Her initials are in the notes that were taken that day. She claims that the appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, let's see, that would have been in

2016. It would have still been appointed by Barack Obama. I believe it was Preet Bharara. I think that was the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York who made a big name for himself going after Wall Street. Anyone that he perceived was a evildoer in Wall Street. He was also known as the showman, apparently loved the limelight. Is it true that that was the appointed U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York at the time this meeting took place? I believe so, yes. Now, people are saying the U.S. attorney had no idea what was going on. But let me circle back to Jessica Pride. Jessica, I don't know if you ever worked in a DA's office or in a public defender's office, but I can tell you this. When you have a high profile case, for instance, a millionaire accused of molesting a string of little girls

and a stinking deal out of Florida where the guy got to walk free, essentially, that's the kind of thing you'd tell your boss before you just tossed in the trash bin, right? Oh, 100 percent. But his boss had been silencing the survivor since 2007 when they decided to enter into this non-prosecution agreement and file it under seal. You know, Nancy, I know you know how hard it is to get a case filed under seal or anything filed under seal for that matter. So the fact that they had a non-prosecution agreement back in 2007

saying we're not going to file federal charges in Florida and, we're going to kick this down to the state court and allow them to do this sweetheart deal. It was insane. And not only did they create this deal, they did it without consulting the survivors. How do you represent? As a matter of fact, hold on, Jessica Pride, you just hit a nerve. Charlie Langston, isn't it true this sweetheart deal in Florida, now we're talking about a meeting in New York in 2016

where prosecutors turned a blind eye and allowed Epstein and Maxwell to continue molesting little girls for three more years before the Miami Herald broke the story and they got shamed. All right, that was in New York. But this sweetheart deal went down in Florida. And isn't it true, Charlie? They took the deal in 2007. But when one of the victims called to find out what was happening with the case in 2008, the victim, and I believe that victim's name was Courtney Wilde was told the investigation was still ongoing. They had no idea they had done a sweetheart deal.

They kept it a secret. You know, when you got to keep something a secret, unless it's a surprise party, there's something probably very wrong with your secret. to me is that these women who were trying to get justice and trying to bring to light the horrific crimes that they had suffered, they were still given hope. They were told the investigation is ongoing when actually all hope that they had of trying to get justice against Epstein that had been thrown away by prosecutors in Florida who were then telling the women, oh, no, don't worry, we're still working on it. Please still keep speaking to us. We'll we'll keep you in the loop. And that was a lie. So not only did these victims not get the justice that they quite frankly deserved, but they were also spoon fed lies by prosecutors having already gone through unspeakable trauma for so many years.

I just think that there are so many levels of failings for these poor women. And I don't know, honestly, whether any justice can really be served to them after all that they've been through. The young girl victim that was lied to and told the investigation was ongoing after there had really already been a secret deal a year before and nobody would tell the girl victims. Her name, Courtney Wild. I want you to hear our cut 10. This is about Courtney and you're hearing ABC Nightline's Tom Lamas. Listen. I was 14. I had braces on. I'm brought by somebody else.

We go up the stairs. We're shown how to set up the massage table, everything else. And we were just massaging them. And then after about 30 minutes of that, he asked the girl that I was with to go wait downstairs. When she left, you know, he asked me to get comfortable,

to take, you know, my clothes off that I can leave my bra and panties on. So I did that. And he just wanted me to like stand next to him as he like, you know, touched me and stuff like that as he masturbated. And then that was that. Yeah, that was that. You're hearing the voice of Courtney Wilde speaking out. Just 14 years old when she was recruited to go massage a grown man with gray hair, Jeffrey Epstein, a multimillionaire. She gets there. He sends the other girl away, asks her to take her clothes off,

and then basically fondles her genitals while he masturbates. There's really no nice way to say that. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Now, listen to this, Charlie Langston. In the last days, a court has ruled against Courtney and other victims, even though they say they, quote, sympathize with them. Courtney Wilde was one of Epstein's numerous child victims who filed a lawsuit against the prosecution. That lawsuit filed in 2008, alleging that their plea deal that let Epstein walk free and continue to molest little girls,

violated the Victims' Rights Act. Because they never told the victims. Under the Crime Victims Rights Act, victims are supposed to know when a plea deal is going down. They not only, according to the girls, didn't tell them when the deal was going down, they also lied about it. And now, in another stunning blow to these girl victims, a court rules they can't sue. It's just almost too much to take in, Charlie. I mean, it's just horrific. And what is really tragic for me is that the judge in this most recent appeals case effectively said, I believe that you have been wronged by prosecutors. I believe that what went down was unacceptable. And not

only did you face unspeakable horrors at the hands of Epstein, but you then were failed by the law. However, the judge in this specific case effectively said, in order to follow the law myself, I cannot grant you a win in this case because legally, because federal charges were never filed against Epstein, the Criminal Victims Rights Act does not give Courtney any protections whatsoever. I want to go to Shrink, Dr. Teresa Gill. Dr. Gill, you know, I'm just a trial lawyer. You're the psychologist. But I know what I've seen, and I know what happens to rape and child molestation victims,

be they a boy or a girl, to grown women that are raped. They're never the same. Yes, they go about their life. They may get married. They may have a family, may have a great job, but you're never the same. It affects you the rest of your life. How you view relationships, whether you can ever have sex again, how you really just see the world. You are a victim from then on, and there's no turning back. How much more can these victims take Dr. Gill? They were molested by Epstein, Elaine Maxwell, according to them, lured their M and even took part in the molestation, stood by smiling while they were molested.

Then they have a secret deal done behind their back by Florida prosecutors. Then they take the case to the Southern District of New York U.S. attorneys appointed by the president. And they do nothing. They do nothing, Dr. Gill. What more can be done to these victims? Well, I think it's interesting because when I think about their victimization, their victimization started with their childhood. So when I bring, sometimes my survivors want to bring in their perpetrator and they want to ask their perpetrator, why me?

And they think that the perpetrator is going to say, because somehow you were defective, somehow you were bad, you were terrible, you deserved it. And every time the perpetrator says, because you were the most vulnerable and that's why I picked you. And when Epstein and his people who supported him in getting these women and enticing them and recruiting them and grooming them, they knew that the women that they were picking were working class and poor. They knew they came from troubled homes. They knew that they were vulnerable and that they were young and they were in financial need and they were unprotected. And so already you have people with a history of real vulnerability and lack of support and protection.

And when they fight to be heard and the system undermines them and pulls the rug out from underneath them, then they're being re-victimized and they're being re-silenced. And they're going back into a place where I have no control, I'm powerless, there's nothing that I can do. And that's not a... You know, Dr. Gill... It's a misjustice of the government. I'm trying to verbalize this feeling they must be having. When you become a crime victim in such a brutal way to be raped by Jeffrey Epstein,

and you're just a young girl, you're 14, so one year older than my daughter, Lucy. Then you live with all that shame, you feel like it's your fault, the whole brutality of it, the sense of helplessness sticks with you the rest of your life. But then you think you have a champion that is going to represent you, that is going to get justice. And your faith and your hope is renewed that someone cares about you. And then you find out they basically crap on you. They do nothing. They do nothing. I mean, you know, wash their hands like Pontius Pilate and look the other way and let an unspeakable

injustice go forward. I mean, that has got to be soul breaking. Guys, we're talking about one victim, Courtney Wild, who actually sued the prosecution and got turned down by the Court of Appeals. Take a listen to more from our friends at ABC's Nightline. Lakata says she was just 16 years old when she was recruited by another high school girl to give Epstein a massage. He kept saying, God, you're just so beautiful and sexy and gorgeous, and it was making me feel really uncomfortable. Lakata telling investigators in a police interview at the time,

Epstein sexually assaulted her. And then he wanted me to go to his bath. And then he kept asking me to go lower and lower. He was kind of talking to me, and then trying to get to know me about my sex life. Epstein's accused of preying on vulnerable girls. And I remember just like feeling so disgusting and shameful, but, and then in the same way, you know,

I had $200 that I didn't have before. So it was like, it was just a tough pillow to swallow. Wilde saying she became part of Epstein's alleged recruiting scheme, soon winding up in over her head. He asked me if I could bring him girls and for every girl I could bring him, he would give me $200 for them. It's a burden that she says she's carried with her for more than a decade. I just hold so much guilt for ever having somebody do that or introducing that to

somebody's life. It's almost too much to take in. So back to Charlie Langston on the story from the very beginning. She's a senior editor at dailymail.com. Charlie, it was kind of like a Ponzi scheme where he would actually molest a girl, a young girl. I believe Courtney Wilde was 14 when he started molesting her. Then he would pay her, and he knew these girls were from working class families that needed money that had nothing. He would pay her and he knew these girls were from working class families that needed money that had nothing. He would pay her $200 per girl that she would bring to him. So you're basically getting children to entice other children to get raped by Jeffrey Epstein and then they'll get $200. I mean, I used to prosecute cases where drug lords and their lieutenants would use juveniles to sell drugs, heroin, crack, cocaine, meth, out on the street

because they knew juveniles would do a month in juvie jail if that. They would use children to do their dirty work. And here he's using his own molestation victims to lure in other girls. It's just, it's the devil. I mean, it's the most disgusting pyramid scheme I think I've ever heard. And what we've addressed, and I think the really key point here is Epstein preyed on the most vulnerable people he could find. He sent, from what we understand, Ghislaine Maxwell out to find the top level of girls who he would then use to recruit others. And the really sickening thing

from what we've heard from victims is that they knew deep down that what was happening to them was wrong. But here they were being paid enormous amounts of money, being told that by partaking in these disgusting acts, they would be given jobs you know, jobs that they would be given an education that they would be flown around the world. Epstein and Maxwell gained these girls trust through a number of incredibly underhanded tactics and made them think that this is how the world worked, that this is how you got ahead in life, and then sent them out to go and share that message with other young girls. That's what's really awful here is that these young women were led to believe that this was the way of the world and that there was no other option if you wanted to get out of a working class family and find success and wealth.

And Charlie, it's like leading lambs to the slaughter. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, is it true? Well, I can answer that. Yes, it it true? Well, I can answer that. Yes, it is true that in 2016, U.S. attorneys met with lawyers for these child victims. They were told that Ghislaine Maxwell had a nude photo taken of a little girl, an explicit photo taken, and gifted to Epstein for his birthday. That's sick right there.

How brazen. They told the U.S. attorneys about it, and the U.S. attorneys did nothing, basically giving Epstein a get-out-of-jail-free pass for the next three years to go on raping children. It wasn't until the Miami Herald cracked the case wide open that they were shamed into doing something. You just heard Charlie Langston, investigative reporter and editor for DailyMail.com speaking, and she was talking about how these girls were led to believe this is their ticket to a better life. If they could endure getting raped by Epstein, they could have a world opened up to them of education and travel and a better life. Take a listen to our cut three.

This is Virginia Roberts-Giffray with the Miami Herald. Listen. I had been a runaway and I had been abused before. So to have this, you know, ability to get educated and do something with my life, I thought I was turning around. It was a turning point for me. I was really excited. And within an hour of being at Epstein's mansion, the abuse quickly unfolded like that. And I thought, God, you know, I should have known better, but I didn't. And now I'm here and this is as good as it gets. You know, sometimes I just, I'm less speechless with what

criminals do to their victims. Joining me right now, special guest forensic expert, Karen L. Smith. And you can find her at karensforensics, barebonesforensics.com. Karen, right now we are looking at a trial for Epstein's, as they say, madam, she's nothing more than a pimp. And she took part in these molestations, according to some of the girls. How in the hay can we prove this? Yes, we're going to have the girls themselves testifying, but very often jurors look for more. But this happened years ago. Yeah, it did. And I have to say systemic failure, 100 percent. But there was one entity that didn't fail them. And that was the Palm beach police department, police chief, Michael Ryder and detective Joe Rick Harry, who's now unfortunately deceased.

They did their job and they did it exceptionally well. They went through Epstein's garbage. They found notes with victims, phone numbers, and these not so cryptic messages about massages and sex. They found a high school transcript in his desk drawer and photographs of naked teenage girls. All of that was corroborated by multiple victims who didn't even know each other at the time. But here's the kicker. Crucial evidence was missing when the detective served a search warrant on Epstein's house. The computer towers were gone. Wires were hanging from the ceiling from

a surveillance system that had been dismantled. Drawers had been emptied. And it was clear at that point to Police Chief Ryder and Detective Recarry that Epstein had somehow been tipped off. You know, Karen, when you hear stories like this, it's not a story, it's real. Does it ever weigh heavy on you when fellow prosecutors, fellow law enforcement, drop the ball if it hadn't been for the officers that you just named? All of that evidence would have been gone, too. That's right. How could they do it? Michael Ryder pushed.

He pushed. He called the FBI. He got the FBI involved, And then that ball got dropped. It wasn't the police. It was the upper levels of the prosecutors, the state attorneys and the U.S. state attorney that dropped these balls. And you know what? For me, as just a lowly cop, a rank and file detective, it blows my mind to think that these failures happen systemically in a system that we are told is trustworthy, that we're told works. It doesn't. This case is an absolute travesty, Nancy. It makes me so sad, and it makes me feel horribly for these victims who are never going to see justice.

Guys, you may be wondering, where does Ghislaine Maxwell fit into this scenario? Take a listen to Our Cut 7. This is from BBC Panorama reporter Darren McIntyre. Virginia Roberts went to Epstein's Palm Beach home for the interview. Ghislaine walks me up the stairs and there's this naked guy laying on a massage table in the middle of the room. So although there was this naked man laying on a table, I thought, okay, well, this is just how they do it, I suppose. He looked up at Keelan.

So she's like, okay, here's the lotions, here's the oils. Put your lotions and oils on your arm. Always keep your hand on the person you're massaging. And start with one foot, and she'll get the other foot and then we'll work together, so you just mimic my movements. So anyways, that thought went fleeting from my head, like that was strange,

because we're doing this massage now. Through that time, I mean, they were asking me questions about who I was and how I got to work at Mar-a-Lago, and I really wanted them to know how important it was to me to nail this interview and to possibly be educated to become a real massage therapist. And they seemed like nice people, so I trusted them.

And I told them I'd had a really hard time in my life up until then. I'd been a runaway. I'd been sexually abused. I'd been physically abused. I've had a really hard time in my life up until then. I've been a runaway. I've been sexually abused. I've been physically abused. I've just, I've had a really hard trot. And, um, that was the worst thing that I could have told them because now they knew how vulnerable I was. And that's not the half of it. Listen to more. It was like a gift for them. That's exactly what they needed. That's exactly what they wanted. And they got it. So they told me to take my clothes off.

And Keelan takes her clothes off. And Epstein's already nude. And they start touching me. And they ask me to do things for him. And I just, I did, I fell right into the back of that circle. I thought this is just what life's about. This, this must be what life's about because I have never had somebody just take me in and say that they're going to do something and then not do something. So yeah, it was, it, yeah, it was a real big kick in the gut.

And it was a face of reality that I just succumbed to. I just, it's all I'd known. So I let them abuse me. And I did what they told me to do. Take a listen now to our cut 12. Virginia Jeffrey was by far not the only victim that went through the same thing. And that is something you look for when you're prosecuting. Do witnesses, victims, separated by time and space, tell the same story without collusion?

Take a listen to our friends at NBC. My gosh, I was 14 years old. What the hell do you know when you're that young? Jennifer Arose grew up in New York with dreams of becoming a Broadway actress. She was thrilled when she was accepted to a performing arts high school in the city. And it was outside that school back in 2001, she says, a woman first approached her. She was definitely trying to get to know me. Trying to find out, you know, where I was from, where I grew up,

you know, who I lived with. Aroah says the woman kept showing up, talking to her, sometimes offering to buy her lunch or a soda. The first time she brought up the name Jeffrey Epstein, how did she describe him to you? Dave was just a great guy. Just saying, like, you know, he's helped me. I've struggled.

Like, she was similar to me. Did she say he could help you with your career? That was a big part of it. And when you think of her now, you use the phrase,

you said, the recruiter. You felt like she was looking for someone for him. Oh, 100%, yeah. A row says the recruiter

brought her to Epstein's townhouse, just blocks from the school. When you first met him, what did you think? What did he say? Very nice. Basically saying that, you know, he's heard a lot about me. You know, the recruiter was talking such nice things. Aroze says she was served wine in Epstein's kitchen and they talked. When she left, she says she was given $300 and was repeatedly invited back. It wasn't long after that that

Rose says that Epstein raped her. It started as a regular massage and then it turned into rape. How many girls were raped after U.S. prosecutors turned a blind eye? We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.