The U.S. Dithers, While England Pursues 'Grooming Gangs'
England prosecutes gangs of men, largely of Pakistani heritage, for raping young girls, while the U.S. protects rich and powerful men in the notorious Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case.
The difference between the United States’ and the United Kingdom’s approaches to systematic sexual abuse of young girls is, at this point, stark.
After years of reticence, the United Kingdom is finally cracking down on “grooming gangs” that have raped and abused disadvantaged and vulnerable girls living in the UK for decades.
The British government is conducting a national inquiry into organized child sex abuse, and has made it mandatory for police to record the ethnicity and nationality of suspects accused of child sex abuse and exploitation going forward.
Moreover, there are prosecutions. On Wednesday, seven men of Pakistani origin were jailed for 174 years total in Manchester, England, for sexual abuse of young girls from disadvantaged backgrounds that occurred between 2001 and 2006.
By contrast, in the United States, the only person convicted in financier Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious child sex trafficking case remains a woman, his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Without explanation, Maxwell recently was transferred from a maximum security prison to a minimum-security “dormitory”-style prison in apparent violation of rules adopted by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. She is serving a 20-year sentence.
Epstein, who was convicted of procuring a minor for prostitution in a sweetheart deal in 2008, faced new sex trafficking charges when he allegedly committed suicide in 2019. He reportedly hanged himself with a bedsheet affixed to a bunk bed in a New York jail, a week after being taken off suicide watch.
Obstacles To Transparency
U.S. Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) are working to collect 218 signatures for a “discharge petition” needed to force a vote in the House on their proposed Epstein Files Transparency Act, which would require the U.S. Department. of Justice (DOJ) to release all files related to Epstein.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is currently stalling the swearing-in of newly-elected Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ), who is filling the House seat vacated by her father’s death, in an apparent effort to prevent Massie and Khanna from obtaining the 218th signature.
Once Grijalva signs the discharge petition, House rules require that the proposal be brought up for a floor vote within two legislative days, potentially by late October 2025.
Even if approved, the bill faces an uphill battle in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats last month attempted unsuccessfully to attach an amendment to a defense spending bill to require the DOJ to release all files related to Epstein.
Meanwhile, the House approved a measure by a vote of 212 to 208 for the House Oversight Committee to investigate Epstein. Massie says the effort is insufficient, lacks transparency, is too slow, and is tantamount to “stonewalling.”
Conspiracy Theories
While the machinations of Congress grind on, conspiracy theories abound.
President Donald Trump began claiming last July that the Epstein case is a “Democratic hoax.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who previously indicated she was reviewing an Epstein “client list” of high profile individuals involved in his crimes, suddenly announced there was no such client list.
The DOJ closed its Epstein probe without releasing key files.
The FBI released “full raw” surveillance video footage that it said shows no one entered Epstein’s cell the night before he was found dead. A publication, Wired, commissioned a forensic analysis that found the video was modified, likely using a professional editing tool, and appears to be stitched together from “at least two source clips.”
The FBI’s video of Epstein’s cell was modified.
Hany Farid, a professor at UC Berkeley whose research focuses on digital forensics, told Wired there could be an innocent explanation for the video modifications but, as it stands, “the metadata raises immediate concerns about chain of custody.”
Ten Epstein victims visited Congress last month and held an emotional press conference in which they described being groomed and trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell in their teens.
“I was only 14 years old when I met Jeffrey,” said Marina Lacerda, who identified herself as “Minor-Victim 1” in Epstein’s 2019 federal indictment in New York. She was told she could make money by giving a massage to “an older guy,” leading to years of sexual abuse.
The outlet Drop Site News this week reported on a recent hack of 100,000 emails by a pro-Palestinian group, showing frequent correspondence beginning in 2013 between Ehud Barak, a former Israeli Prime Minister who was a frequent Epstein guest and flew on his private plane. Drop Site News says Epstein helped broker a spy-tech deal between the governments of Israel and Mongolia.
There is considerable speculation that Epstein was involved with U.S. and/or Israeli intelligence. An extensive surveillance system fed into control rooms at Epstein’s residences, including cameras. Several of Epstein’s sex trafficking victims say Epstein ran a blackmail operation targeting prominent Americans.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that for years neither the United Kingdom nor the United States paid much attention to the grooming and sexual abuse of thousands of young, disadvantaged girls.
In the UK, leaders appeared reluctant to risk inflaming racial tensions by pursuing criminal grooming gangs that were disproportionately comprised of men of Pakistani heritage. The public demanded action after the Times and the Guardian published exposés showing that local police had ignored reports of organized abuse.
The U.S.’s corrupt legal system blamed the victims, while protecting and enabling Epstein, and shielding the rich and powerful men who visited Epstein’s Manhattan town house, Florida mansion, and private island in the Virgin Islands. The FBI found thousands of explicit photos, some involving minors, in searches of Epstein’s residences after his death.
One theme that might explain the differing approaches of the U.S. and the UK to the criminal abuse of vulnerable young girls in recent decades. America’s lack of action on the Epstein case may hinge on the concept of class.
England is arresting Pakistani immigrants, most of whom are not powerful and influential in the highest reaches of society and government.
America is not arresting powerful, prominent men.
There’s a difference.