Most of the victims of the Jeffrey Epstein case have lost confidence in the U.S. justice system, said an American civil rights lawyer.
Gloria Allred, a lawyer who has been dedicated to fighting for women's rights for years, said she was horrified by the case at first, and that it is poverty that makes the victims "vulnerable."
"When I first became involved, I was horrified. Some of them were vulnerable because they came from homes where there was only a single parent, families who had serious financial problems. In other words, they were living in poverty," she said.
Epstein pleaded guilty to a state charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. He was arrested again in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges and died in jail on Aug 10, 2019 before trial.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice released more than three million pages of Epstein-related documents over the past months to comply with a law passed by Congress. In the documents, the names of some famous men who were believed to be associated with Epstein are concealed.
Allred said the way the department treated the victims in the Epstein case shows that the U.S. justice system is inclined to protect the famous men who are "powerful and rich."
She said the disclosure of victims' information violated the government's commitment to protecting their privacy.
"They showed the victims' names in many cases, showed their photos, showed identifying information, driver licenses, passports, telephone numbers, emails, protecting the powerful, rich famous men. It's wrong," she said.
Allred said decades of scandals have seriously eroded the credibility of the U.S. justice system.
"Here's the bottom line, For the most part, survivors have no confidence left in the Department of Justice. I call it the 'Department of Injustice.' They can't trust them. And this has an impact far beyond these victims, these survivors because if this is the way victims are going to be treated or mistreated by the United States Department of Justice, why would other victims of other sexual predators ever come forward and agree to testify in a criminal case? I always try to engender confidence in my clients in the justice system. That if they work hard and do what they're asked to do, that there can be possibly a form of justice. I can't say that anymore about the United States Department of Justice," she said.
Epstein case victims lose confidence in U.S. justice system: lawyer
