Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein arrested, accused of sex trafficking minors: Sources

(AP) -- Federal prosecutors charged Jeffrey Epstein Monday with abusing dozens of underage girls as young as 14, WPIX reports.

The 66-year-old was charged in a newly unsealed indictment with sex trafficking and conspiracy and could get up to 45 years in prison.

Prosecutors said the evidence included a "vast trove" of hundreds or even thousands of lewd photographs of young women or girls, discovered in a search of his New York mansion.

Epstein, who was arrested over the weekend as he arrived in the U.S. from Paris aboard his private jet, was brought into court Monday in a blue jail uniform, his hair disheveled, and pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argued that the matter had been settled in 2008 with a plea agreement in Florida involving similar allegations.

The defendant was ordered jailed for a bail hearing next Monday, when prosecutors plan to argue that the rich world traveler might flee if released.

MORE: Politically connected billionaire Jeffrey Epstein charged with sex trafficking of girls as young as 14 - WPIX

July 7, 2019

via WPIX

NEW YORK (WPIX) -- Florida-based billionaire Jeffrey Epstein has been indicted on new charges related to alleged sex crimes involving minors, law enforcement sources told CNN on Saturday.

Epstein was arrested Saturday and is expected to appear in federal court in New York on Monday.

Epstein faces charges brought by US prosecutors in Manhattan, after previously evading similar charges when he secured a non-prosecution deal with federal prosecutors in Miami.

The charges, contained in a sealed indictment, involve alleged sex trafficking crimes committed between 2002 and 2005, according to law enforcement sources. The indictment alleged that the crimes occurred in both New York and Palm Beach, Florida.

A team of federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, along with some in the public corruption unit, have been assigned to the case.

CNN has reached out to Epstein's lawyer.

The arrest was first reported by the Daily Beast.

In November, the Miami Herald reported that when Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta was a US attorney in Florida, he gave Epstein the “deal of a lifetime.” In a sweeping review of the politically connected billionaire's case, the Herald explained how Acosta had made an agreement with Epstein to avoid major repercussions for the hedge fund manager, even though a federal investigation had identified 36 underage victims.