Following the widely publicized new charges against disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, footage has emerged of the weekend police raid of his massive New York City estate.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, the billionaire investor is accused of trafficking minors for sex — a decade after pleading guilty in exchange for a deal criticized by many as too lenient.
According to the U.K. Daily Mail, a witness of the raid on Saturday had a cellphone handy and recorded the operation.
Local police officers reportedly arrived alongside FBI agents, making their presence known with a series of loud bangs.
Subsequent reports revealed that authorities allegedly recovered evidence including child pornography during the raid.
Court documents allege that evidence including “documents and other materials, such as contemporaneous notes, messages recovered from the defendant’s residence that includes names and contact information for certain victims, and call records that confirm the defendant and his agents were repeatedly in contact with various victims during the charged period.”
Those watching the scene unfold reportedly knew they were witnessing something significant.
“This is a historic moment,” one individual can be heard remarking. “You’ll be reading about it on the front page of the New York Times.”
Epstein was arrested as he arrived in the U.S. from a trip to France on the same day as the raid on his mansion. He could face 45 years behind bars if convicted of the counts against him.
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[Featured images: Police handout, video screenshot]
