Florida prosecutors knew Jeffrey Epstein assaulted young girls years before plea deal

The transcript of nearly 150 pages shows grand jury heard testimony of teenage girls' rape at his Palm Beach mansion

Florida prosecutors knew the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted teenage girls two years before they cut a plea deal that has long been criticized as too lenient and a missed opportunity to imprison him a decade earlier, according to transcripts released Monday.

The 2006 grand jury investigation was the first of many by law enforcement over the past two decades into Epstein's rape and sex trafficking of teenagers - and how his ties to the rich and the powerful seem to have allowed him to avoid prison or a serious jail term for more than a decade.