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THE PALM BEACH POST¶
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008 W S C¶
The Palm Beach Post¶
TOM GIUFFRIDA, Publisher¶
| JOHN BARTOSEK, Editor | CHARLES GERARDI, General Manager |¶
| :--- | :--- |¶
BILL ROSE, Managing Editor RANDY SCHULTZ, Editor of the Editorial Page¶
JAN TUCKWOOD, Associate Editor¶
| BARRY BERG, VP Circulation | LARRY SIEDLIK, VP & Treasurer |
| JOHN KELLY, VP Advertising | GALE HOWDEN, VP Community Relations and Marketing |
| LINDA MURPHY, VP Human Resources | BOB BALFE, VP Operations |
| LAURA DECK CUNNINGHAM, Director, Marketing Services | |
| DAN SHORTER, General Manager, PalmBeachPost.com | |
Spare us the outrage¶
An 11-month police investigation led to an indictment on one felony charge of solicitation of prostitution. That was in July 2006, and part-time Palm Beacher Jeffrey Epstein still has faced no repercussions for allegedly preying on underage girls.¶
So maybe Mr. Epstein is satisfied that he’s getting his money’s worth from his large legal team, which includes Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz (remember¶
- O.J. Simpson?) and Kenneth Starr (remember Monica Lewinsky?).
Jack Goldberger of West Palm Beach, who’s also on the team, told Post columnist Jose Lambiet in November: “This case is absolutely going to end without a trial within the next two months.”¶
He was wrong, but Mr. Goldberger remains on Mr. Epstein’s payroll, feigning moral outrage at two lawsuits filed this year against¶
the Manhattan money manager. The lawsuits allege sexual exploitation of teenaged girls, one of them as young as 14. Said Mr. Goldberger after the first lawsuit, seeking more¶
Lawyers for accused sex predator sound foolish.¶
than $50 million, was filed on Jan. 24: “We think this shows what this case is all about: money.” Yes, it is — Mr. Epstein’s effort to buy his way out of prosecution.¶
According to the lawyer of a 17-year-old whose parents are suing him, Mr. Epstein masturbated in front of her (she was 14 at the time) and used a vibrator on her at his home in February 2005. Another Epstein attorney, Lilly Ann Sanchez dismissed it: “Jeffrey Epstein did not have sex with this woman.”¶
For those girls who claim that he did, Mr. Epstein’s lawyers maintain that he did not know their ages, despite a police search of his home and garbage that found phone messages about the girls’ school schedules and even a high school transcript. For all of his money, Mr. Epstein’s best defense remains “I didn’t know that I was a criminal pervert”?¶