Billionaire arrested on sex trafficking charges

Billionaire financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is scheduled to face a federal judge in Manhattan on Monday on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy dating to the early 2000s. Police arrested Epstein in New York on Saturday. He is accused of abusing dozens of underage girls as young as 14 at his homes in Florida and New York, prosecutors said Monday.

Epstein is a wealthy hedge fund manager who once counted as friends former President Bill Clinton, Great Britain’s Prince Andrew, and President Donald Trump. A once-secret plea deal he made on similar charges in 2008 is receiving renewed scrutiny and being challenged in federal court. Then–federal prosecutor Alex Acosta, now the U.S. secretary of labor, agreed to the deal, which allowed Epstein to plead guilty to lesser state charges and avoid a possible life sentence. Epstein instead served 13 months in jail.