A New York federal judge on Thursday ordered Jeffrey Epstein held without bail, siding with prosecutors who argued the wealthy financier and accused sex trafficker posed a flight risk.
Epstein, 66, was arrested July 6 at a New Jersey airport after arriving from Paris and accused of sex trafficking and conspiracy.
South Florida financier Jeffrey Epstein will be arraigned Monday in federal court on two sex trafficking-related charges, according to an indictment unsealed by prosecutors that alleges he sexually abused dozens of underage girls at his homes in New York City and Florida and paid them to engage in sex acts.
Epstein, 66, is accused of seeking out minors, some as young as 14, from at least 2002 through 2005 and paying them hundreds of dollars in cash for sex at either his home in Manhattan or estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
He is being charged with one count of sex trafficking conspiracy and one count of sex trafficking.
The state of New York will begin treating most alleged prostitutes as victims rather than criminals, and seek to steer them toward medical treatment, job training and other social services to break the cycle of sex trafficking.
More than 100 teenagers involved in sex trafficking and exploitation were rescued over the weekend in coordinated raids encompassing more than 70 cities, the FBI said Monday.
