The mystery surrounding Jeffrey Epstein makes it difficult to write him off as a mere hyperbolic paedophile. More than six years after his death, we’re not much closer to knowing how and from where such a figure emerged, how he became so powerful and how he managed to escape the clutches of the law almost until the day of his death. He may not have been born with a silver spoon, but he certainly came with more than his share of ‘get-out-of-jail’ cards.
How else does one understand his transformation from being a schoolteacher to becoming a millionaire in less than two decades? Were there institutional failures in this gigantic financial leap he made, or is the narrative much more sinister than it seems? When did his interest in young women start, and why and how did it remain so unidimensional over the decades? How did he become a 21st century Gatsby-like figure—the difference being his abuse of teenage girls—with so much power over a system which claims to be histrionically moral? And, at the end of it, why did he suddenly give up and commit suicide? What do his documents contain, and why are the rich and the powerful elite of the world scared of what lies buried in those documents or in his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell’s head?
On the one hand, we have millions of documents emerging, which, redacted though they are, expand the scope of what this man was or represented, and on the other, we have some of the most powerful individuals and institutions in the world trying to play it all down. We also have increasing numbers of women speaking up about the hell they went through when they were sexually used/abused at various ages by Epstein and his friends, but then there’s complete denial by most men so named as well as by mainstream media throughout the world.
It has now been over six years since Epstein was found dead, but little or no action has been taken or initiated against anyone associated with his activities in the US, except for Maxwell.
From all accounts, Epstein’s earliest sexual perversions were first noticed at his 14,000 sq ft waterfront bungalow in Palm Beach in Florida. Acquired by him around 1990, here is where Maxwell is said to have scouted poorer areas and located girls and young women in their homes, outside schools, and offered them USD 200 to ‘massage an old man’. Unpleasant as it may have seemed, it was much more money than these young women could have earned at that time. The modus operandi of the massage was incredibly similar over the years. A naked man was found lying face down on a massage table in a bedroom—sometimes covered by a towel, sometimes not. The young woman was given oil to massage the man. In the middle of the massage, the man would turn over, exposing his penis to the young woman. That would be the defining moment. If the ‘masseuse’ carried on, the $200 were handed over to her and she was encouraged to return, and even tempted to bring a friend with her. If she stopped, or refused, the result was unpredictable. Some women claimed they were raped nevertheless, some said they were sent off and asked not to come back. The relationship between Epstein and Maxwell doesn’t indicate a close sexual relationship. She seemed more like a facilitator and he was happy to have her as a front for his sexual fantasies. His own sexual activities do not seem to indicate anything but sexual perversions—fulfilled by hapless young women on a massage table. There are very few indications of his engaging in normal sex with anyone. Similarly, very little has emerged about Maxwell’s sexual activities except that of as a facilitator/accomplice.
Though Epstein’s personal sexual activities with underage women were first reported to have started in Florida, they transitioned to trafficking of young women at his home in Manhattan as well as in the Virgin Islands later. Many of the women claimed that they were then ‘trafficked’ to other men, sometimes at Palm Beach and later at his Manhattan residence.
This gigantic Manhattan townhouse is said to have been bought by him for $20 million in 1998, though reports claim it was transferred to Epstein by Les Wexner, the Ohio-based billionaire, for next to nothing. Later, his mansions on the Virgin Islands were to become the venue where the world’s most powerful men were seen engaging in a whole range of nefarious activities. Victims claimed that some of the most powerful men in the world, including former and current Presidents of the USA, arms dealers, heads of gigantic financial organisations, well-known lawyers, royalty from the UK as well as the UAE were present at different times on the island. Names mentioned included Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Ehud Barak, Sarah Ferguson, Elon Musk, Sergei Belyakov, Peter Thiel, Noam Chomsky, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorg, Thorbjørn Jagland, Miroslav Lajčák, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Princess Sofia, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and many more. Suffice it to say that visitors to Epstein’s paradise island included some of the richest men in the world, some of the most powerful, leading legal luminaries, media barons as well as Hollywood stars. Reports also suggest that Epstein often travelled with a bevy of young women who were supposedly for his clients in different parts of the world. Except for a few women, most of the perpetrators are white, powerful men. Hardly any black men figure in Epstein’s tales, or black women. One would be forgiven for thinking of this as a massive racist get-together.
Today, allegations of corruption, paedophilia, rape, molestation, soliciting, embezzling public funds, and seeking private contracts in public affairs are par for the course.
Looking at the bare facts of Epstein’s activities, there seems to be no explanation as to why these did not invite the wrath of the state. The US prides itself on its rule of law, on an efficient policing system and of autonomous agencies. It prides itself on immediate action against ‘child rape’—that most reprehensible of crimes. Yet, in spite of innumerable complaints against Epstein in the 1990s as well as in the early 2000s, no police agency was willing to take any action against him. Completely unexpectedly, in 2008, there was an announcement that Epstein had pleaded guilty to charges of ‘solicitation of prostitution, involving a minor’ and had received a ‘non-prosecution’ deal with the then Miami US Attorney Alexander Acosta, which involved an 18-month sentence for Epstein—of which he only served 13 with almost full day furloughs—as well as complete immunity from all federal charges against him, his four named conspirators, as well as any unnamed ‘potential co-conspirators’.
This would have been the end of the story, but for a small provision in law that no non-prosecution agreement could be arrived at without first informing the victims of the crime. Thus, after desperate efforts by survivors of Epstein’s sexual crimes, a federal judge ruled that the 2008 immunity for Epstein and his co-conspirators violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, and this cleared the grounds for him to be prosecuted again. He tried hard to post bail, offering amounts up to $200 million, but this was turned down by the judge. Within weeks of his July 6, 2019 arrest, Epstein was found dead in his cell on August 10, 2019.
It has now been over six years since he was found dead, but little or no action has been taken or initiated against anyone associated with Epstein’s activities in the US, except for Maxwell. In England, action has been initiated against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Duke of York. In the US, nothing.
What this suggests is that there is actually no anger, no backlash against moral turpitude any longer. There was once an America where the mere mention of an affair signalled an end to a politician’s career. Today, allegations of corruption, paedophilia, rape, molestation, soliciting, embezzling public funds, and seeking private contracts in public affairs are par for the course. The rich are emboldened to settle matters on private islands, with a lot of money and glamour thrown in. The elite are loath to question their entitlement, so why should it matter if a few women are asked to service their cause? Life becomes more bearable for the boringly rich and more affordable for the glamorous poor. (Microsoft founder Bill Gates finally admitted to have had two affairs with Russian women on Epstein’s island. Gates added that he “…did nothing illicit”. He also said that because Epstein also had other prestigious people at these meetings, it “…made it easier for me to feel like this was a normalized situation”. This was Epstein’s role… to create a situation in which powerful people felt comfortable to exercise their fantasies, to be in a ‘normalized’ situation, in which unnatural situations could be created.) National interests disappear, deals are made, money is siphoned, weapons are bought, intelligence services use contacts made in these circles to further their interests. How does it really matter if a few young women are collateral to the cause?
(Views expressed are personal)
Pankaj Butalia is a Delhi-based filmmaker
