Sheriff who allowed Jeffrey Epstein liberal work release privileges pulls plug on program

Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, who faced blistering criticism for granting Jeffrey Epstein liberal work-release privileges while the sex offender was serving time in the county stockade, has discontinued the work release program.

From now on, the sheriff said, a judge’s order will be needed for anyone sentenced to the jail to qualify for in-home detention or the ability to do work outside the jail. Before it was at the discretion of the sheriff.

The decision to allow Epstein work release in 2009 had been blasted even by the U.S. attorney who shelved the multimillionaire’s 53-page sex trafficking indictment, a move that also has been excoriated.

“This decision not only saves money by placing inmates at their home on house arrest, but also places total control of the decision-making process in the hands of the court system, and the presiding judge,” Sheriff Bradshaw said in a news release.

The decision came after a report was issued by the Criminal Justice Commission, which studied the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office work release program. While commission staff said the program was not cost-effective and increased the probability of contraband being introduced into the jail, the majority of members of the task force thought the program was worth keeping.

At a meeting Monday, Chief Deputy Michael Gauger told the commission Bradshaw’s decision. He did not explain why Bradshaw came to the conclusion, although Therese Barbera, a spokesman for the sheriff, told the Herald: “The sheriff has the final decision.“

Epstein was approved for work release by Bradshaw despite accusations by nearly three dozen underage girls that the multimillionaire financier had sexually abused them at his Palm Beach waterfront mansion.

During work release, Epstein was picked up daily by his valet and driven to a downtown West Palm Beach high-rise, where he was allowed to spend 12 hours a day, six days a week. Records show he also spent an unusual number of hours in Home Depot and was also spotted walking along the road where he was not authorized to be, although authorities decided not to yank his privileges.

Lawyers for Epstein’s accusers have presented evidence that Epstein arranged sexual encounters during those work release hours.

Epstein paid a coterie of sheriff’s deputies to be his security detail while he was on work release. A log of visitors maintained by the deputies has vanished.

Sex offenders are generally not afforded work release privileges. In explaining why Epstein received such privileges, Barbera, the spokeswoman, previously explained that Epstein was not considered a sex offender at the time because detainees serving time for sex crimes don’t enter the sex offender registry until after they get out of jail.

Although Epstein faced allegations from a variety of underage girls, the U.S. attorney for Southern Florida, Alexander Acosta, agreed to shelve a draft indictment for sex trafficking provided Epstein plead guilty to minor prostitution charges in state court.

Epstein was serving 13 months for those lesser charges when he was granted work release by Bradshaw, whose agency runs the Palm Beach County jail and stockade.

Epstein, 66, was found hanged in a New York jail cell in August, a month after he was re-arrested on revived sex trafficking charges filed in the Southern District of New York.

The death has been called a suicide. A criminal investigation of the Epstein case continues.

Meanwhile, State Sen. Lauren Book, a Democrat from Plantation who pushed for a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into Bradshaw’s handling of the Epstein case, said Monday the work release program wasn’t the problem.

“It’s unfortunate that the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office work release program, which did a lot of good for many inmates and the community, has been shut down because of misadministration,” she said in a statement. “Serial sex predator Jeffrey Epstein should never have been allowed to participate in the program. That mistake is on the sheriff, not nonviolent inmates seeking to honestly rebuild their lives, earn modest wages, and contribute to their community.”

Book said the program was not cut because of funding. “Cost may have been cited by PBSO, but it’s clear the real issue stems from the bad PR and international scrutiny the agency received due to its improper and possibly criminally negligent oversight of Jeffrey Epstein.”

Palm Beach Mayor Dave Kerner, who is on the Criminal Justice Commission and is a former police officer and special prosecutor, said he supported Bradshaw’s decision. He said the review revealed that in the last five years only 52 inmates were in the work release program.

“It wasn’t a widely used program,” he said.

He supports a county-run program for low-risk inmates. “We will look at other ways to achieve a low-risk offender program.”

This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 4:16 PM.