PALM BEACH COUNTY, Florida. – A Palm Beach County district judge on Monday ordered the release of grand jury testimony about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, nearly two decades after an investigation into allegations that the wealthy financier sexually abused young women at his Palm Beach mansion.

Judge Luis Delgado ordered the release of the witness statements on the same day that a law requiring the documents to be made available came into force.

Through a deal approved by prosecutors in 2007, Epstein was able to avoid federal charges and plead guilty to two counts of prostitution, including procuring sex from minors.

The Palm Beach Post's parent company, CA Florida Holdings LLC, filed suit against Palm Beach County officials in 2019, demanding access to evidence, witness testimony and reports submitted to the grand jury.

Delgado twice ruled he did not have the authority to release the records, prompting lawmakers this year to pass a bill expanding an exception to the ban on disclosing testimony or evidence presented before a grand jury.

Governor Ron DeSantis signed the law in February. The amendment “significantly changed the definition of 'advancement of justice' to explicitly include the advancement of a public interest” when the requested documents were related to a grand jury, Delgado wrote in his order on Monday.

“It cannot be emphasized enough that the change in the law clearly allows things that were previously not legally permissible,” he added.

Delgado's order states that the request for the records meets the new standard of a “matter of public interest.”

“The prosecution of the most notorious pedophile in American history began in Palm Beach County – amid great controversy,” the judge wrote. “For nearly 20 years, the story of how Jeffrey Epstein victimized some of Palm Beach County's most vulnerable was the subject of great anger and, at times, tainted the public's perception of the criminal justice system.”

Epstein was “indeed notorious and nefarious, and it is widely reported that he boasted about his wealth while socialising with politicians, billionaires and even members of the British royal family,” the judge added.

“It is understandable that, in light of these reports, the public is very curious about what the news agencies (sic) described as 'special treatment' in connection with his prosecution. This matter is clearly a matter of public interest,” Delgado's order states.

The grand jury testimony details sexual activity between Epstein and child sex trafficking victims. The testimony “concerns activities ranging from grossly unacceptable to rape – the entire conduct involved is sexually deviant, repulsive and criminal,” the judge wrote. Epstein died in a New York jail on August 10, 2019.

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