During the investigation initiated based on new materials published at the end of January regarding the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the State Police (GP) of Latvia identified one victim — a citizen of Latvia, the head of the GP, Armand Ruks, said in an interview for the TV3 program "900 Seconds," reports LETA.
The victim was of legal age, and she was recruited by a foreigner, whom the police identified, said Ruks. He noted that in the Epstein case, the Prosecutor's Office has not yet identified any Latvian citizens who were directly involved in the recruitment of girls or women for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
“ We have worked with about ten individuals who were questioned in the context of this case, including those who spoke publicly,” added the police chief.
Although the Prosecutor's Office has made requests for legal assistance to the USA, responses have not yet been received. The police chief admits that this may be related to the large number of requests from different countries. He is confident that responses will eventually be obtained. “At the same time, we are not sitting idly by; we continue to work,” emphasized Ruks.
As reported, the Prosecutor's Office initiated a criminal process based on new materials from the Epstein case published at the end of January, in which Latvia is mentioned as one of the possible locations for the recruitment of underage girls.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, on February 4, in coordination with the prosecution, a criminal process was initiated at the Department for Combating Organized Crime, Serious and Serial Crimes regarding the materials published on the official website of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about the criminal network created by Epstein and the recruitment of several individuals, including the possible recruitment of Latvian citizens for transportation to the USA for sexual exploitation.
Currently, the criminal process is classified under the Criminal Law article on human trafficking.
