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Accused sex trafficker, financier, and friend to many prominent politicians and celebrities, Jeffrey Epstein has died. According to ABC News, the source that first broke the story Epstein committed suicide at a Manhattan jail.
Julia Macfarlane, ABC News foreign affairs reporter, wrote on Twitter on the morning of August 10, 2019: “Breaking: Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide overnight at MCC Manhattan, the federal lockup where he had been held pending trial on federal sex trafficking charges, three law enforcement officials told @ABC News. Via @AaronKatersky.”
Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Sources tell @abc Epstein committed suicide at MCC Manhattan
Earlier this month, prosecutors announced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was charged, in an unsealed indictment, with sex offenses involving underage girls he and others allegedly trafficked in New York and Florida.
According to CNN, Epstein’s offenses include paying girls as young as 14-years-old to have sex with him, as well as paying them to recruit other girls.
Epstein had many relationships with powerful people in business and politics, including former President Bill Clinton, current president Donald Trump, members of the British Royal family and President Trump’s current secretary of labor Alexander Acosta, per the Miami Herald.
GettyA protest group hold up signs of Jeffrey Epstein and President Donald Trump.
Epstein grew up in a middle-class family in Brooklyn and Coney Island with two parents and his younger brother Mark.
Here’s what you need to know about Epstein’s family:
1. Although Epstein Never Married, He & Ghislaine Maxwell Were an Item
GettyGhislaine Maxwell
Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of English newspaper tycoon, Robert Maxwell fled for the United States after her father’s death lead to a “financial black hole” at the heart of his company, per The Telegraph.
At the age of 49, Maxwell met Epstein and they became an item. After the two split up, friends of Maxwell said they were still close, The Telegraph reported.
Maxwell and Epstein are thought to have been at the top of Epstein’s alleged sex operation, according to the Miami Herald.
Maxwell is thought to have used her connections to recruit young girls throughout the world promising them modeling assignments, educational opportunities and fashion careers.
2. Maxwell Is Thought to Be in the Most Danger with Law Enforcement as More & More Is Revealed about Epstein’s Sex Ring
Although Maxwell has denied any involvement with Epstein’s sex trafficking as well as having never been charged, one lawyer, who represents a woman who was abused by Epstein, thinks she is in grave danger with law enforcement.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre alleges she was recruited by Maxwell in 2000 when she was 16 years old, according to the Miami Herald. She was allegedly brought on by Maxwell when she was working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s winter home and resort in Palm Beach, Florida at the time of her recruitment, court records show.
“The one person most likely in jeopardy is Maxwell because the records that are going to be unsealed have so much evidence against her. She is in a particularly vulnerable position and will have an interest in cooperating, even though she may have missed that opportunity,’’ said lawyer David Boies, who represents Giuffre.
This is especially true as 2,000 pages of a previously sealed court file are expected to be made public in a few weeks, per the Miami Herald.
3. Epstein’s Father Worked for New York’s Parks Department
Epstein, who was born in Brooklyn but grew up on Coney Island, was born in 1953 to a father who worked in New York City’s parks department. It is unclear what Epstein’s mother did for work.
According to Vanity Fair, Epstein’s family was middle class and wanted Epstein and his brother, Mark to succeed.
Epstein picked up the piano early in his life, at the age of 5, and still plays today, per Vanity Fair. He went to Brooklyn’s Lafayette High School where he succeeded in mathematics.
4. Epstein’s Parents Thought Education Was the Way out
GettyJeffrey Epstein poses for a sex offender mugshot.
According to Vanity Fair, Epstein’s parents valued education highly and thought it was “the way out” for him and his younger brother, Mark.
In his early twenties, Epstein landed a job teaching physics and math at Dalton, an elite Manhattan private school. There he began tutoring the son of Bear Stearns chairman Ace Greenberg.
This connection with Greenberg led to an apprenticeship and ultimately helped him land a limited partnership with Bear Stearns, per Vanity Fair.
He departed in 1981 because he wanted to start his own business.
5. Epstein’s Brother, Mark, Works in New York City Real Estate
Screengrab via YouTubeMark Epstein pictured in 2011.
According to Mark Epstein’s LinkedIn page, he has been the owner of New York City real estate company Ossa Properties from 1992 to today.
Mark Epstein also graduated from Cooper Union’s School of Art in 1976. He also has served as chairman and vice-chairman of Cooper Union’s board in the late-2000s through the 2010s.
Mark Epstein also holds onto his passion for arts and the arts community as he is the founder of the IZMO Family of companies, a silk screen printing business serving the advertising and fine arts fields, per Art in America magazine.
Mark Epstein was also accused of financial mismanagement during his time at Cooper Union. He also worked with politicians Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters, Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the past.