Federal prosecutors on Monday called wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein a "serial sexual predator" who has maintained "a vast trove of lewd photographs" of young-looking women or girls as they strongly urged a judge to order him to be held without bail on new child sex trafficking charges.
The seized photos included some of "at least one girl, who, according to her counsel, was underage at the time the relevant photographs were taken," prosecutors told the judge in a court filing.
Federal agents who searched Epstein's $77 million Upper East Side townhouse in Manhattan also found "in a locked safe ... compact discs with hand-written labels including the following: 'Young [Name] + [Name],' 'Misc nudes 1,' and 'Girl pics nudes,' " according to a new court filing in Epstein's case.
Prosecutors said Epstein, a 66-year-old former friend of both President Donald Trump and ex-President Bill Clinton, represented both an "extreme flight risk," and an "acute danger" to the public if he is freed on bail.
"The defendant, a registered sex offender, is not reformed, he is not chastened, he is not repentant; rather, he is a continuing danger to the community and an individual who faces devastating evidence supporting deeply serious charges," prosecutors from the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York wrote in their filing.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and felony solicitation of prostitution, according to his plea agreement on charges brought in Florida.
He is accused in a new indictment unsealed Monday of trafficking "dozens" of minor girls, some of them as young as 14 years old, from 2002 to 2005. The indictment accuses him of having the girls brought to him to sexually abuse in his New York and Florida mansions, and then paying each of the girls hundreds of dollars.
Epstein pleaded not guilty during a hearing Monday, during which his lawyer suggested that the new case is a rehash of old allegations that are barred from being prosecuted by a deal Epstein cut with the Miami U.S. Attorney's office in 2008. Epstein will be kept in jail without bail until at least a detention hearing on July 15.
When he was arrested Saturday after flying to a New York-area airport on a private plane from France, federal agents raided his Manhattan residence and seized many pieces of evidence, according to court records.
In their memorandum outlining their argument that Epstein should be denied bail, prosecutors told Judge Henry Pitman that despite Epstein's previous sex crime conviction involving an underage victim, he has "continued to maintain a vast trove of lewd photographs of young-looking women or girls in his Manhattan mansion."
A search of that home found "hundreds — and perhaps thousands — of sexually suggestive photographs of fully or partially nude females," the filing said.
"Some ... appear to be of underage girls."
Prosecutors said Epstein has three active U.S. passports, owns at least two private jets, 15 motor vehicles, and has residences not only in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, but also in New Mexico and Paris.
"Additionally, Epstein owns a private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands which, as noted above, is believed to be his primary residence in the United States," prosecutors wrote.
There is "no combination of" bail conditions "that would reasonably assure his continued appearance in this case or protect the safety of the community were he to be released," prosecutors wrote to Pitman, who was holding a hearing on Epstein's possible bail Monday.
"There is an extraordinary risk of flight, particularly given the defendant's exorbitant wealth, his ownership of and access to private planes capable of international travel, and his significant international ties," prosecutors said.
They additionally said that they had "real concerns—grounded in past experience with this defendant—that if allowed to remain out on bail, the defendant could attempt to pressure and intimidate witnesses and potential witnesses in this case, including victims and their families, and otherwise attempt to obstruct justice."
"As a result, he poses both an acute danger to the community, including some of its most vulnerable members, and a significant risk of flight."
Prosecutors pointed out that Epstein faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted of the two federal criminal counts now pending against him.
"The likelihood of a substantial period of incarceration is buttressed by the strength of the evidence. As set forth in the Indictment, the evidence in this case is strong," prosecutors wrote.
"The Indictment alleges that the defendant sexually abused dozens of minor victims, and the conspiracy count lists numerous overt acts committed in furtherance of the defendant's crimes."