The Daily Populous Thursday May 14th, 2026 night edition
Authored by bbc.co.uk and submitted by Samski877

The hearing, which Garcia pointed out was also held in close proximity to US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, was held by Democrats from the US House Oversight Committee and local Democratic members.

The committee, which has a Republican majority, is currently investigating the financier's crimes. Democratic members of the committee have focused on scrutinising the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files.

The hearing carries no legal authority, but was planned with the intention of keeping the Epstein case in the spotlight.

Democratic lawmakers heard how Epstein and his accomplices evaded accountability for years, and how victims were repeatedly failed by the justice system.

Roza, whose first name was only given in the hearing, said she was 18 when she met the late Brunel in 2008 and "promised a modelling career beyond my dreams".

"Coming from a financially unstable background I was a perfect target for coercion," she added, during the tearful testimony.

By May 2009, she was in New York City on a visa, and in July she met Epstein at his house in West Palm Beach while he was under house arrest, Roza said.

Epstein then offered her a role at his Florida Science Foundation - where he had worked during an initial arrangement that allowed him to leave custody for up to 16 hours a day, six days a week, following his 2008 conviction.

"One day his masseuse called me into his room where I was molested for the first time by Jeffrey," Roza told the hearing. "For the following three years I was subject to ongoing rape."

Epstein died in a New York prison cell on 10 August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

His conviction in 2008 had been for soliciting prostitution from a minor - for which he was registered as a sex offender.

A report, external published by Democratic oversight committee members on Tuesday found that a controversial plea deal negotiated by Epstein's lawyer in 2008 enabled him to "continue his abuse and trafficking activities for almost another decade".

Roza said that the abuse perpetrated by Epstein while he was under house arrest "made justice feel impossible", but she "eventually found the courage to reach out for help".

Jethr0777 on May 13rd, 2026 at 19:54 UTC »

Pam bondi says theh can't prosecute all the child abusers or it will bring down the whole federal branch of government.

Beautiful_Special702 on May 13rd, 2026 at 14:33 UTC »

Hard to read stories like this and not wonder how many failures happened behind the scenes...

Samski877 on May 13rd, 2026 at 14:29 UTC »

The fact Epstein was allegedly still abusing girls while on house arrest tells you everything about how absurdly privileged his treatment was from the start.

Most people would never get that level of freedom after those charges, but wealth and connections bought him years of protection until the whole thing became too public to ignore. At this point just release the remaining files and let people see the full extent of who enabled him and benefited from looking away.