UltraViolet Demands All of Epstein’s Enablers—From Acosta to President Trump—be Held Accountable in New Case Alleging Sex Trafficking of Dozens of Minors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, July 8, 2019
CONTACT: Madison Donzis | madison@unbendablemedia.com

UltraViolet Demands All of Epstein’s Enablers—From Acosta to President Trump—be Held Accountable in New Case Alleging Sex Trafficking of Dozens of Minors

This morning, federal prosecutors unsealed new sex trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein, alleging the politically connected multimillionaire abused dozens of female minors at his Manhattan and Florida homes. Mr. Epstein is expected to appear in Federal District Court in Manhattan today to face charges that include sex trafficking of minors, involving multiple underage girls, between 2002 and 2005. And moments ago, it was revealed that investigators seized nude photographs from Epstein’s townhouse as part of the new investigation.

The case is expected to shed new light on the allegations and the extent to which officials who have been linked to Mr. Epstein—including, most notably, President Trump and his labor secretary, Alexander Acosta—knew about or downplayed them.

Shaunna Thomas, Executive Director of the leading national women’s advocacy group, UltraViolet, issued the following statement in response:

“The hundreds of young girls Jeffrey Epstein has abused—spanning years and countries—cannot be silenced again. We welcome the new Manhattan case brought forward against him today.

“Speaker Pelosi can and should open a full investigation into why child sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein was protected over the survivors of his abuse. That means investigating every single enabler of Epstein’s abuse, from Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to President Donald Trump, and every celebrity and business mogul in between, and includes starting impeachment proceedings into Acosta, who broke the law to hand a serial pedophile a sweetheart deal.

“The American people cannot afford a President and Labor Secretary who would rather shield wealthy sexual abusers from prosecution than protect sexually trafficked teenagers.”

An investigation by the Miami Herald in 2008 showed that now-Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta cut a deal with multi-millionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein that sentenced him to just 13 months in jail in 2008 for assembling a large, cult-like network of underage girls, sexually assaulting them behind the walls of his opulent waterfront mansion as often as three times a day. The deal, which was made in secret, without informing any of the survivors of Epstein’s crimes, shut down an FBI probe into whether there were more victims and other wealthy perpetrators who took part in Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring.

In December 2018, more than 37,000 people signed onto a petition from UltraViolet calling on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings into Trump Administration Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, over his role as U.S. Attorney in Miami arranging a plea deal sentencing child sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein to only 13 months in prison. Acosta’s deal with Epstein, who sexually abused and trafficked hundreds of girls as young as 14 years old, shut down an FBI investigation into Epstein, preventing law enforcement from helping more survivors and discovering other powerful figures involved in Epstein’s’ child sex trafficking ring.

VIEW THE PETITION HERE: https://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/impeach-acosta/

Separately, a federal judge ruled in February that the government had violated the rights of Mr. Epstein’s alleged victims, after two of them had sued the government for not telling them about the non-prosecution deal until it had been finalized.

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UltraViolet is a community of more than one million people that drives feminist cultural and political change. Through people power and strategic advocacy, we work to improve the lives of women and girls of all identities and backgrounds, and all people impacted by sexism, by dismantling discrimination and creating a cost for sexism.

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