Judge ends case against Epstein, with a nod to the accusers

NEW YORK – A judge has formally ended the criminal case against financier Jeffrey Epstein.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman on Thursday granted prosecutors’ request to dismiss charges against Epstein after he killed himself in jail Aug. 10 while he was awaiting his sex trafficking trial.

The judge’s action was anticipated after Epstein’s death.

It comes after an unusual hearing Berman held Tuesday where sixteen women detailed how Epstein abused them. The women said he used his financial power and connections to famous people to make them vulnerable to sexual attacks that sometimes went on for years.

The allegations mirrored the criminal charges in which prosecutors said Epstein repeatedly assaulted women and teenage girls in the early 2000s.

Attorney General William Barr has promised the Justice Department will pursue those who enabled Epstein to carry out sex attacks.