Twelve anonymous victims of notorious sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein have filed a new federal lawsuit seeking monetary damages from the United States government for failure to protect them from the abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of Epstein and others in his circle.
Specifically, the lawsuit roots its allegations in information made available to the public from other litigation, including a previous prosecution of Epstein, and from public comments given to the Senate Judicial Committee by FBI director Christopher Wray. The complaint alleges that the federal law enforcement agency ignored tips, disregarded evidence, and was slow to initiate the investigation and subsequent prosecutions of Epstein.
Criminal Prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein Never Reached Trial
In 2006, a federal investigation and prosecution of Epstein for sex crimes resulted in a heavily criticized plea bargain. Epstein pled guilty to only two state charges of solicitation and received a light sentence, while all federal charges against him were dropped. He ended up serving a small portion of his eighteen-month sentence under aberrantly lenient conditions of confinement. The plea agreement has been heavily criticized by public figures across the political spectrum.
Epstein was arrested again in 2019 and charged with federal sex trafficking crimes, but he died in custody before he could face trial. Investigators ruled his death a suicide, but rumors and theories of foul play sprang up immediately and continue to linger.
Court Battles Continue Without Epstein
After Epstein’s death, criminal charges against him had to be dismissed. The American legal system does not contemplate the trial of a deceased defendant because that person cannot participate in their own defense, a right protected in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution.
However, Epstein’s co-conspirators still faced criminal prosecution for their participation in Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. In 2022, Epstein’s former partner Ghislaine Maxwell was tried and found guilty of sex trafficking charges. Other rumored co-conspirators have yet to face indictments.
In the civil courts, the massive wealth of Epstein’s estate has been targeted in a series of lawsuits brought by victims. Before his 2019 arrest, Epstein had opted to settle numerous civil claims brought against him by victims of his sex trafficking, and in doing so, he prevented their testimony from coming to light in the courtroom. Since his death, over a dozen new lawsuits have sought damages from his estate, and over $500 million has been paid out to victims of Epstein’s crimes from a special fund set up by his banks.
Because the plaintiffs in the new lawsuit are anonymous, it is unclear whether they have made claims or been paid from that fund. The notable difference of this most recent suit, however, is that it seeks compensatory damages not from Epstein’s wealth, but from the American taxpayers, by suing the FBI.
Can the FBI Really be Held Liable for Failing to Stop Crimes?
Typically, suits based on this theory tend to have dim prospects. In legal terms, traditional approaches to tort liability preclude recovery for negligence when a person is harmed by the intentional acts of a third party. Put simply and applied here, the victims cannot credibly allege that the FBI caused them any harm directly; it is clear that Epstein and his co-conspirators are the ones who caused the harm through their own intentional criminal acts. Rather, the plaintiffs allege simply that the FBI failed to protect them from the harms suffered at Epstein's hands by acting too slowly or in violation of agency protocols.
However, under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the United States government can only be held liable for negligence if a private person would be held responsible for the same acts under the applicable state law. This creates some problems for a suit grounded in a theory of negligent policing, as the government is likely to argue that no private person could realistically be in the same position as the FBI. As the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has stated, “[A]s to certain governmental functions, the United States cannot be held liable, for no private analog exists.” For these functions, the government is shielded from liability by sovereign immunity.
Additionally, the Federal Tort Claims Act does not permit claims “based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty on the part of a federal agency or an employee of the Government, whether or not the discretion involved be abused.” Other federal courts have ruled that deciding when to initiate an investigation, regardless of whether that decision is consistent with an agency’s internal policies, is a discretionary function not subject to suit.
The plaintiffs will likely see their claims challenged by a motion to dismiss their suit on these bases, and their lawyers will have to argue that some exception applies under New York law.
On the other hand, one recent high-profile case could offer some hope to the plaintiffs. In the wake of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, families of the victims sued the FBI for negligently responding to tips about the shooter and his intentions to target the school.
In that case, the judge found an exception to the sovereign immunity argument applied under Florida law and allowed the claims to proceed. The government ended up settling with the families for around $130 million.
Related Resources:
- What if Police Won't Investigate My Case? (FindLaw’s Law and Daily Life)
- Appeals Court Denies Trump's Immunity Claim (FindLaw's Courtside)
- Claims Against the Government (FindLaw's Learn About the Law)
