I was saddened to see that Jeffrey Epstein had committed suicide. I don’t mourn the loss of the man. I am sad because his death means that his victims will never have the opportunity to share their stories in court, or to receive restitution from him. Because he was never convicted of these latest charges in the Southern District of New York, his estate will go to his heirs, not to the people he violated. To the victims, of course, the money is not what matters. As one victim said, while she was glad that he would never abuse anyone again, she was more angry that he would never have to answer for what he’d done.
Perhaps the investigation will continue; certainly many others assisted Epstein in his crimes. But what are we left with, the rest of us? What do we take from this episode being splashed across our headlines and homepages?
What we must reckon with is that many, many people knew what Epstein was doing for a long time and turned a blind eye. People say now that they noticed the girls, at his parties, on his planes, always surrounding him. They told themselves that the girls must be adults, because it was easier to do that than to interrogate what some part of their brains, their hearts, must have been telling them. And let’s be clear that I’m not only talking about Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. A whole lot of people were at those parties. And many more people are at other parties, picnics, camping trips, and conferences where they’re seeing similar conduct by a guy a lot less rich and connected than Jeffrey Epstein, and they’re ignoring it, too.
We all have to be more curious, more willing to step in, to make a fuss. Open your eyes. See what is in front of you. And if you have some information that leads you to believe a child is in danger, report that to someone who can help. You can access information on where to report in your state here: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topi…/responding/reporting/how/. Reports can be anonymous.
We can’t do anything about Jeffrey Epstein now. But there are more Epsteins out there. Let’s stop them.