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Many guilty of staying quiet

The OBSERVER's view

Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is among the sleaziest of perverts, if federal authorities are to be believed. Given his 2008 guilty plea to charges he had sex with minors in Florida, there is no reason to discount charges he faces now in New York.

Outrage already has been expressed over the sweetheart deal Epstein received from federal authorities in 2008. He spent just 13 months in jail — and was allowed to leave to “go to work” during daylight hours, Monday through Saturday.

Epstein never should have gotten that break. If new charges are accurate, he walked out of the Florida jail and back into a life of victimizing teenage girls.

But how did he get away with that for so long — nearly a decade? Why did so many in high society, including the entertainment world, delight in rubbing shoulders with a man listed on a sex offender registry?

Why were law enforcement agencies, aware of Epstein’s record and his perversion-enabling wealth, not paying more attention to him? Did not lawsuits filed by some of his alleged victims tip the authorities off that an investigation was in order? How did a Florida newspaper obtain so much evidence against Epstein before, apparently, law enforcement officials even opened a case?

Remember the “MeToo” movement? Supposedly, it was a societal declaration that the rich and powerful would not get free passes on victimizing women and girls. What happened?

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