Overview
Barry Krischer served as Palm Beach County State Attorney from 1992 to 2008 and was in that role when the Epstein investigation was referred to his office for prosecution. His office’s decision to charge Epstein with one count of “solicitation of prostitution” — rather than the more serious offenses the evidence supported — was a pivotal failure of accountability. The inadequacy of the local charges was what led Police Chief Michael Reiter to directly contact the FBI, setting in motion the federal investigation.
The Original Referral
Palm Beach Police Department referred the Epstein case to Krischer’s office in mid-2006, after Detective Recarey had completed a comprehensive investigation identifying more than 30 potential victims. The investigation documented the payment of minors for sexual acts, the involvement of recruiters, and a systematic operation spanning years.
The standard expectation would have been prosecution on multiple felony counts, potentially including charges of lewd and lascivious conduct with minors, sex trafficking, and related offenses.
The Reduced Charge
Instead, Krischer’s office negotiated a state plea to a single count of “solicitation of prostitution” — the framing of which effectively categorized Epstein’s victims as prostitutes rather than as children who had been abused. This framing was itself identified by victim advocates as harmful and inaccurate.
Police Chief Reiter publicly criticized Krischer’s handling of the case, a remarkable act in which a police chief took public issue with a county prosecutor. Reiter stated that the victims deserved better and that the evidence supported more serious prosecution.
Krischer’s Defense
Krischer has stated that the decision reflected the difficulty of prosecution: the Florida charges available under the law as it existed at the time had limitations, and he believed the plea reflected the achievable outcome. He has denied political considerations influenced the charging decisions.
This defense has been widely rejected by investigators, journalists, and victim advocates, who note that the Palm Beach Police had documented a compelling case that other prosecutors would have pursued more aggressively.
Legacy
Barry Krischer retired as State Attorney in 2008 — the same year the federal NPA was signed. The combination of Krischer’s local minimization and Acosta’s federal NPA left Epstein with a sex offender registration and a lenient jail sentence for conduct that the evidence documented as serious trafficking of minors.
Krischer’s role is regularly cited alongside Acosta’s as the two prosecution-side failures that most directly enabled Epstein to escape serious consequences in 2008.
Sources
Palm Beach Police case files and Reiter’s public statements; reporting on Krischer’s charging decisions; Julie K. Brown, Perversion of Justice (2021); Senate Judiciary Committee investigation; victim attorney accounts.