This article references grooming, rape, and sexual abuse.
Jeffrey Epstein is back in the news…again. Another 3.5 million files dropped into the public domain on January 30, and the detonation has triggered a global echo.
But what is actually happening here? What does it all mean for the predatory dynasty of the deceased criminal? Are we any closer to seeing justice? When did it all start? And will it ever, ever end?
We’re feeling the same way. It’s hard to keep track of the chaos, confusion and corruption that have marked every stage of this ongoing scandal. So, here’s our timeline breakdown of this interminable story — and what’s coming next.
Who was Jeffrey Epstein?
Jeffrey Epstein, born and raised in New York, worked as a maths and physics teacher at a private school in the mid 70s.
A connection through a student’s father led to a four-year partnership at the Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns. In 1982, he created his own firm, J Epstein and Co, managing assets worth more than $1 billion (£800 million).
He spends his millions on global real estate and building connections with celebrities, politicians and businessmen. Donald Trump told New York Mag in 2002: “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” The President later said that they fell out in the early 2000s.
Epstein also befriends the likes of Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey and Christ Tucker, with whom he flew to Africa on a customised private jet in 2002. Another now well-known friend of his was UK politician Lord Peter Mandelson — a friendship that cost Mandelson his job as US ambassador in 2025. He has since resigned from the Labour Party.
The original investigation
March 2005: A 14-year-old girl’s family reports she was molested at Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion. Later, multiple teenage girls and young women, many of them high school students, tell police that Epstein hired them to give him massages while semi or fully nude and molested them.
Although Palm Beach police feel they have a strong case, the prosecutor disagrees, claiming Epstein’s attorneys will attack the victims’ credibility and a conviction is unlikely.
May 2006: Over a year later, Palm Beach police officials sign paperwork to charge Epstein with several counts of unlawful sex with persons under the age of consent. Instead, the county’s top prosecutor, Barry Krischer, sends the case to a grand jury.
July 2006: The grand jury indicts Epstein on a single count of soliciting prostitution, clearing him of charges of unlawful sex with minors for the time being.
The Palm Beach Police Department’s chief and lead detective on the case refers it to a nearby FBI office, saying the charge doesn’t meet “the totality of Epstein’s conduct,” according to the Justice Department’s review of the case. FBI begins its own investigation. Prosecutors later say Epstein’s abuses began as early as 2002.
2007
May 2007: An assistant US attorney whose been working with FBI agents to find more victims submits a draft indictment with 60 criminal counts against Epstein.
July 2007: Epstein’s lawyers spend a year talking with US Attorney Alexander Acosta — who is later appointed Labor Secretary by Donald Trump — about a plea bargain. Epstein wants to avoid federal prosecutions, and his lawyers dismiss his accusers as untrustworthy witnesses.
Acosta’s office offers to end the investigation if Epstein pleads guilty to two felony prostitution charges, accepts a prison term, registers as a sexual offender and sets up a way for his victims to obtain monetary damages.