A criminal process is likely to be initiated in Latvia to investigate materials related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the head of the State Police, Armands Ruks, said in an interview with TV3.
The State Police has begun an investigation in connection with new materials related to the Epstein case that were made public last week, in which Latvia is mentioned as one of the countries involved in the recruitment of underage girls.
Ruks believes that a criminal process will be necessary to verify the information contained in the materials in order to conduct investigative actions more effectively and to engage in international cooperation, as a number of data points are currently anonymized, and the police "need details and specific names."
The head of the State Police noted that the statute of limitations has not yet expired for a number of crimes, and therefore he urges individuals who may have been victims of Epstein's actions to contact the police.
Ruks pointed out that the police in Latvia have managed to reduce the number of crimes related to human trafficking and pimping; however, it is impossible to completely eradicate this type of crime. The problem also lies in the fact that victims of human trafficking do not always perceive themselves as victims and are not ready to cooperate with the police, the head of the State Police noted.
As reported, the State Police is conducting an investigation based on the newly published files related to the Epstein case. Information has also been requested as part of international cooperation. In turn, the prosecutor's office is delegating a prosecutor who will participate in the investigation conducted by the State Police.
In the Epstein case materials, Latvia is mentioned in various contexts more than 500 times, and Riga more than 800 times. The published files contain the names of Latvian models and the names of modeling agencies, as well as personal correspondence between Epstein and Latvian girls.
The majority of mentions of Latvia pertain to 2007. The documents include copies of passports of Latvian girls, flight tickets to and from Riga, hotel booking documents, and records of sending various gifts.
One of Epstein's closest "associates," Jean-Luc Brunel, an agent for foreign modeling agencies, served on the jury of the "Baltic Beauty" modeling contest for girls aged 14 and older, organized by the "Natalie" agency, for several years. The program "de facto" reported in 2011 that an investigation was underway regarding Brunel's possible supply of underage girls to Epstein. The then-head of the "Natalie" agency, Eric Meisans, who is also mentioned in the correspondence, denied on air that he had any knowledge of this.
