Short Answer
The Southern District of New York reopened the Epstein case primarily following Julie K. Brown’s 2018 Miami Herald series “Perversion of Justice,” which brought mass public attention to the terms of the 2008 NPA and identified additional victims. SDNY developed an independent case based on new victim accounts, the sex trafficking statute, and activities occurring in New York.
In Detail
The Miami Herald Investigation
Julie K. Brown’s November 2018 series in the Miami Herald was the catalytic event. The investigation documented the full scope of the 2008 non-prosecution agreement, identified and interviewed more than 80 women who said they had been abused by Epstein, and revealed the extent to which victims had been kept in the dark about the secret deal. The series generated enormous public pressure on federal prosecutors to revisit the case.
Jurisdictional Strategy
A key question was whether the 2008 Florida NPA barred new federal prosecution. SDNY lawyers concluded that because the NPA was limited to the Southern District of Florida, and because many of Epstein’s offenses had also occurred in New York (where victims were abused at his Manhattan townhouse), SDNY had independent jurisdiction and was not bound by the Florida agreement.
The July 2019 Arrest
Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey on July 6, 2019, upon returning from Paris. He was charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy, based on conduct in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005.
Evidence Gathered
The arrest was accompanied by a search of the Manhattan townhouse, which yielded compact discs, photographs, and other materials. Prosecutors built their case around new victim accounts and documentary evidence found in the townhouse search.