Washington, DC - The executive summary of a report by the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) was released today to affected victims. The summary, which is available on the Justice Department website, provides the essential details about the findings of OPR’s investigation into the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida’s resolution of its 2006–2008 federal criminal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and its interactions with victims during the investigation.
While OPR did not find that Department attorneys engaged in professional misconduct, OPR concluded that the victims were not treated with the forthrightness and sensitivity expected by the Department. OPR also concluded that former U.S. Attorney Acosta exercised poor judgment by deciding to resolve the federal investigation through the non-prosecution agreement and when he failed to make certain that the state of Florida intended to and would notify victims identified through the federal investigation about the state plea hearing.
In order to fully respect the rights and dignity of Jeffrey Epstein’s many victims, the Department first invited victims and their legal representatives to be briefed this morning on the report’s contents. The Privacy Act prohibits the Department from releasing the full report publicly, but permits the report to be disclosed upon request to a congressional committee with jurisdiction over the matter, and this has been done.
We salute the courage of survivors as they again are confronted with these horrible crimes and their aftermath. The Department will thoroughly review the report, which will inform our implementation of the Crime Victims Rights’ Act and the Attorney General’s Guidelines on Victim and Witness Assistance.
