Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers cannot challenge plea agreement -U.S. appeals court

From WWW.REUTERS.COM

U. S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

A federal appeals court rejected a challenge by a Jeffrey Epstein accuser to an agreement not to prosecute the financier, and to shield his associates from criminal liability for aiding his sexual abuses.

By a 7-4 vote, the 11th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled on Thursday that Courtney Wild and other accusers lacked standing under the federal Crime Victims' Rights Act to disturb Epstein's 2007 nonprosecution agreement, though they had been kept in the dark while it was being negotiated.

Judges in the majority said they were "constrained" to rule against Wild, despite having "the profoundest sympathy for Ms. Wild and others like her, who suffered unspeakable horror at Epstein's hands, only to be left in the dark - and, so it seems, affirmatively misled - by government attorneys."

Wild, now in her 30s, was 15 when Epstein first sexually abused her, according to court papers.

"We are disappointed but not surprised," her lawyers, Paul Cassell and Bradley Edwards, said in a joint statement.

They pledged to press Congress for changes to ensure that "the rights of crime victims are never again trampled on in this disturbing way again."

Epstein's agreement with federal prosecutors in southern Florida arose from his alleged sexual abuses at his Palm Beach mansion.

In exchange for immunity, Epstein pleaded guilty to Florida state prostitution charges and served just 13 months in jail. The arrangement is now widely considered to have been too lenient.

A decision favoring Wild could have permitted ... (Read more)

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Submitted 1105 days ago