en.wikipedia.org

... Julie Knipe Brown (born 1961) is an American investigative journalist with the Miami Herald best known for pursuing the sex trafficking story surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, who in 2008 was allowed to plead guilty to two state-level prostitution offenses.[1][2] She is the recipient of several awards including two George Polk Awards for Justice Reporting.[3]

Brown was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.[4] ...

Investigation into Jeffrey Epstein

Brown has been credited with re-opening the Jeffrey Epstein sexual abuse case with a series of reports published in November 2018.[9][10][11] She began investigating Epstein in early 2017 and persisted in uncovering facts about the large number of accusers and the pressure campaign to silence them.[12][13] Brown uncovered 80 potential victims (as young as 13 and 14 years old when the abuse occurred) and documented the eight individuals who agreed to tell their stories.[13]

In 2008, Epstein had been allowed to plead guilty to only two state-level prostitution offenses, even though sex with underage girls is legally rape. The secret deal that then-US Attorney Alex Acosta struck with Epstein made the federal sex trafficking charges disappear, shut down an FBI probe that might have uncovered dozens of victims and granted immunity to any possible co-conspirators, a clause that protected powerful men.[2] Brown's 2018 reporting on the deal sparked criticism of Acosta, who by then had become the United States secretary of labor, and there was pressure for him to resign. He eventually resigned after Epstein was arrested and charged in July 2019.[14] ...