Warsaw prosecutors say women and minors may have been recruited in the country for sexual exploitation abroad
Polish prosecutors have launched an investigation into suspected human trafficking linked to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after documents released by the US Justice Department indicated victims were allegedly recruited in the country.
The National Prosecutor’s Office said on Wednesday it was probing whether women – including minors and Polish citizens – were recruited in Poland “by misleading them as to the true nature of prospective employment abroad,” before being transported across borders and handed over to others for sexual exploitation. The suspected trafficking occurred between 2009 and 2019.
Warsaw will request information and evidence from two European countries under a European Investigation Order, prosecutors said, as cited by local media. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters the requests will go to France and Sweden.
The Polish probe is part of a widening international fallout from the latest release of millions of Epstein documents, which have triggered criminal investigations, arrests, and resignations across politics, business, and royalty.
In the UK, former trade envoy Peter Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over alleged leaks to Epstein. Ex-Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was also briefly arrested on similar suspicions and later released under investigation. He was stripped of his royal titles last year over his past friendship with Epstein. An anonymous allegation in the recently released Epstein files claimed Andrew took part in torturing a six-year-old.
Former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland was hospitalized last month after a reported suicide attempt, days after being charged with gross corruption over accepting Epstein’s hospitality.
World Economic Forum CEO Borge Brende stepped down over dinners and communications with the pedophile.
In the US, the Epstein files have placed renewed scrutiny on former President Bill Clinton – who regularly traveled on Epstein’s private jet – and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Both have been questioned about their associations with Epstein, but have denied knowledge of his trafficking operation.
Moscow has described the revelations in the Epstein scandal as exposing the “pure Satanism” at the heart of the collective West, with Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accusing Western elites of fabricating threats from Russia for years to distract from their own “monstrous crimes.”