In March 2005, the parent of a 14-year-old victim of Jeffrey Epstein took her child to the Palm Beach County Police Department to report the abuse. The case was assigned to the Special Victims Unit and Detective Joe Recarey.

Detective Recarey, then 38, found more and more victims. He uncovered the giant pyramid scheme of sexual predation dating back at least to 2001 that would eventually prove to have entrapped and abused several hundred vulnerable young girls.

Epstein would find a way to bait a young girl to his house, promising her between $200 and $300 for a massage. The girls would be met at the side door of his mansion. They would be greeted by Ghislaine Maxwell, or another member of the house staff, or another girl, and led to his bedroom. On the way they would pass photos of Epstein and some of the most powerful people in the world on the walls, as well as photos of nude children and women. They'd enter the bedroom to find him lying face down on a massage table. He would then ask some questions, trying to figure out how susceptible each girl was to being groomed.

Next, Epstein would do any number of things based on his assessment of his ability to manipulate her. He might turn over and expose himself. Or he would tell her to take off her clothes, or masturbate during the massage. Or he would rape her. In some cases, if the girl became visibly upset, he would say, "That's OK. You don't have to do it, but you do have to bring more girls to me." Or he would promise to pay for school or meet some other needs the girl had.

One victim's mother needed cancer treatment she couldn't afford. Epstein said he would pay for it as long as she kept coming over. If she stopped, he would stop paying. Each time, he would pay the girls whether they were being sexually assaulted or luring others to be sexually assaulted. His house was a revolving door of young girls throughout the day and night.

It was later shown that in addition to manipulating girls to pull in other girls, Maxwell used her access and fake motherly presence to find girls at local Palm Beach spas, including Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago. Maxwell convinced the girls that she knew a man who could help get them massage certifications. Maxwell was so convincing in her approach that, at least in one case, the father of a girl dropped her off at Epstein's mansion himself.

Virginia Robert Giuffre is probably the most well-known of Epstein's victims. Her book "Nobody's Girl," published after her death by suicide, details her harrowing experience.........

© Arkansas Online