UPDATE | Wealthy financier charged with molesting dozens of girls

NEW YORK (AP) — Eleven years after letting Jeffrey Epstein off lightly with a secret deal, federal prosecutors took another run at putting the billionaire financier behind bars on sex charges, accusing him in an indictment unsealed Monday of abusing dozens of underage girls as young as 14.

The 66-year-old hedge fund manager who once hobnobbed with some of the world’s most powerful people was charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy and could get up to 45 years in prison.

Epstein, who was arrested over the weekend, faced an afternoon court appearance on the charges in New York. Prosecutors said they would seek to keep him in jail while he awaits trial, contending he might flee if released on bail.

Epstein was accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York from 2002 through 2005.

He “intentionally sought out minors and knew that many of his victims were in fact under the age of 18,” prosecutors said. He also paid some of his victims to “recruit additional girls to be similarly abused by Epstein.”

“In this way, Epstein created a vast network of underage victims for him to sexually exploit in locations including New York and Palm Beach,” prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of New York said that the non-prosecution agreement that spared Epstein from a heavy prison sentence on similar allegations a decade ago is binding only on federal prosecutors in Florida, where the deal was made, not on authorities in New York.

“While the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly important to the many alleged victims — now young women,” Berman said. “They deserve their day in court. We are proud to be standing up for them by bringing this indictment.”

The federal prosecutor urged other possible victims to contact the FBI.

Berman said agents searched Epstein’s Manhattan mansion after arrest and found nude photographs of what appeared to be underage girls.

Epstein’s lawyer did not respond to repeated messages seeking comment.

Epstein, whose friends have included President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew, was arrested Saturday at an airport in New Jersey, just outside New York City, after his private jet touched down from France. He was being held at the federal lockup in Manhattan.

Berman said prosecutors will oppose his release on bail.

“He has enormous wealth. The charges are very serious and carry with them a maximum sentence of 45 years, which to someone of Epstein’s age is basically a life sentence,” Berman said, “so we think he has every incentive to try and flee the jurisdiction.”