e and Donald Trump were often seen party-

ng together. The president says the friend-

hip soured about 15 years ago – apparently

it wasn’t because of Epstein’s creepy sexual

activitiesbutratherasa resultofconflict

vera propertydeal.

P

RESIDENTDonaldTrump

oncedescribedhimasa

“terrificguy”andsaidhe

was“alotoffuntobewith”.

BillClinton was alsoa

bigfan– theformerpresi-

denttooktripsonJeffrey

Epstein’sprivatejetand

praisedhimpubliclyforhisintellect.

Meanwhile,Britain’sPrinceAndrew

wassucha closefriendthathepartied

withhimonmanyoccasions.

Butnowmanyarequestioninghow

thesemencouldbesoblindtowhat

Epstein was up to.

For several years there’s been specula-

tion about what really went on behind

the doors of the stinking-rich financier’s

many homes. Although there were alle-

gations that he ran a sex ring, enlisting

females – some as young as 14 – to have

sexwithhimandpimpingthem out to

friends,somehowtherewasnever

ughevidencefortheclaimstostick.

t inJulythelawfinallycaughtup

him.

Therewasnothingglamorousabout

Epstein’sfinalweeks– confinedtoa tiny

jailcellinNewYorkasheawaitedtrial,

hefacedtheprospectofa 45-yearjail

sentence.

ThelastpictureofEpstein(66)showed

paramedicstryingtorevivehimashe

waswheeledona stretchertoNewYork-

PresbyterianLowerManhattanHospital

afterbeingfoundhangingfroma noose

inhiscellfollowinga suspectedsuicide

attempt.

Nowhe’llneverfacethemusic.Forthe

womenwhosayhepreyedonthem,his

deathwasbadnews– becausethey’ll

nevergetclosure.

“Wehavetolivewiththescarsofhis

actionsfortherestofourlives,whilehe’ll

neverfacetheconsequencesofthe

crimeshecommitted,thepainandtrau-

mahecausedsomanypeople,”says

Jennifer Araoz (32) who accused him of

raping her in his luxurious Manhattan

townhouse when she was 15.

“He took something from me that can

never be repaired, never made whole,”

she says.

I

T’S the same story over and over again.

Scores of women have come forward

claiming the wealthy hedge fund man-

ager groomed them by offering them

money or promising to help launch

modelling and acting careers, then

ruthlessly took advantage of them.

Virginia Giuffre (35) has been one of

Epstein’s most vocal accusers. She says

she was working at Donald Trump’s Mar-

A-Lago resort in 2000 when Epstein’s

longtime companion, British socialite

Ghislaine Maxwell, recruited her to work

as his masseuse. 

But she says this was just a smoke-

screen and that at age 16 she was being

made to have sex with him and his

friends at his homes around the world.

Her allegations have been a source of

embarrassment for several rich and

RIGHT: Jeffrey

Epsteinwith

longtime

companion

Ghislaine

Maxwell. It’s

been claimed

that she re-

cruited young

girls for him.

BELOW: The

millionaire was

recently found

hangedinhis

NewYork

prison cell.

e apparentsuicideofdisgracedfinancier

effreyEpsteinhasleftscoresofwomen

ooking for justice COMPILED BY JANE VORSTER

14 | 22 AUGUST 2019 you.co.za