Jeffrey Epstein Update: Florida Orders Criminal Probe Into Sheriff’s Handling Of Earlier Case

Following the intense renewed scrutiny on Jeffrey Epstein’s past after his most recent underage sex trafficking charges, a new criminal probe is being opened looking into the handling of a 2008 Florida case involving Epstein. After a push led by State Senator Lauren Book, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered the probe to investigate the Palm Beach Sheriff and former Palm Beach state attorney for their lax handling of Epstein’s 2008 underage sex trafficking case.

Starting in 2006, Epstein was under investigation in Palm Beach for luring underage girls to his mansion and sexually abusing them. After state attorney Barry Krischer wanted to charge Epstein with a misdemeanor, per the Miami Herald, the case was transferred to the federal level.

But despite a 53-page indictment from the FBI presenting evidence of Epstein’s sex crimes, then-U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta allowed the multimillionaire to plead guilty to lesser charges in state court. The handling of that case led Acosta to resign as Secretary of Labor after Epstein’s arrest last month.

Following this lenient sentencing, Epstein was to serve 18 months in a private section of the Palm Beach County Stockade.

However, mere months into the sentence, he was allowed to be picked up by a driver and taken to an office he established for 12 hours a day, six days a week. He ended up serving 13 months. Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw is now under scrutiny for his approval of this work release order.

Book represents Florida’s 32nd District and is an advocate for victims of childhood abuse, herself being a survivor of sexual assault as a child.

“We got support for this from all over the country,” Book said. “Many of them are sexual assault survivors who have lived in the shadows for so long and who wanted to let Jeffrey Epstein’s survivors know that they are not alone.”

Bradshaw himself requested DeSantis move forward with the probe, saying that he would cooperate with the state.

“I believe the public interest would be best served by an FDLE-led investigation examining every aspect of the Epstein case, from court sentencing to incarceration,” Bradshaw said in a letter to the governor.