Jeffrey Epstein's assistant of 20 years who said she had a bond so tight with the pedophile 'that I know what he's thinking' will not face prosecution, lawyers have said after a civil case was dropped against her.
Lesley Groff, 53, was generously compensated for working as Epstein's executive assistant in New York and is accused of being one of Ghislaine Maxwell's minions.
As Maxwell faces the rest of her life behind bars, the focus has turned to the women who, according to lawsuits, court testimony and police reports, managed the teenage girls coming and going out of Epstein's houses, including collecting contact information, taking messages and arranging the girls' travel.
Groff was named along with three other female employees, Sarah Kellen, Nadia Marcinkova and Adriana Ross, as an unindicted co-conspirator in Epstein's infamous sweetheart deal in 2008 that saw him given a cushy sentence and avoid federal sex trafficking charges in exchange for pleading guilty to soliciting sex from a minor.
But federal prosecutors in Manhattan have no plans to bring charges against Groff, her lawyers announced in a statement on Thursday.
'After a more than two-year investigation by the Department of Justice into Jeffrey Epstein's conduct, which included lengthy interviews of witnesses and a thorough review of relevant communications, we have been informed that no criminal charges will be brought against Lesley Groff,' attorneys Michael Bachner and Jon Whitcomb told Insider.
They added that Groff 'never witnessed anything improper or illegal.'
That statement came after a lawsuit filed by a Jane Doe against Groff was voluntarily dropped on Thursday.
The lawsuit claimed that Groff played an integral role in arranging Epstein's sex trafficking operation.
In addition to Groff, the defendants were Darren K. Indyke and Richard D. Kahn, the executors of Epstein's estate.
'Groff, Epstein's longtime New York-based right hand, facilitated Epstein's trafficking and sexual abuse of Jane, including by purchasing plane tickets, sending money, making appointments, and sending various communications from New York,' the complaint stated.
'Groff knew or recklessly disregarded the facts and information that made clear that Epstein was trafficking Jane to Paris for commercial sex purposes, and that Epstein was doing so by means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion, and/or a combination of such means.'
Groff's lawyers said that as Epstein's assistant her duties included making appointments, taking messages, and 'setting up high-level meetings with CEOs, business executives, scientists, politicians, celebrities, charitable organizations and universities.'
Her legal team also said that another Epstein-related civil suit naming Groff as a defendant was dropped last year and reiterated that no criminal charges have ever been filed against their client.
Groff told The New York Times in 2005 that she answered Epstein's telephone and managed his schedule.
She said that she had formed a special bond with the financier such that Epstein was 'an extension of my brain.'
Epstein accuser Sarah Ransome has claimed that Groff emailed her saying that the financier had demanded she lose 11 pounds to maintain her slim figure.
'Please could you also let him know that I am now 57 kg and that everything is going well,' Ransome emailed Groff in 2007.
Jennifer Araoz, who says she was recruited by another of Epstein's staff members outside her high school when she was 15 years old, said she was told to wait in 'Ms Groff's office' when she went to see him.
In a separate 2017 lawsuit, filed by an anonymous Jane Doe, it was claimed that Groff was part of a circle of female 'recruiters' close to Epstein.
'Groff coordinated schedules between Epstein and the various young females used for sex; made travel arrangements for the girls; tended to their living needs; and communicated with them in order to maintain their compliance with the rules of behavior imposed upon them by the enterprise,' the lawsuit said.
Following Maxwell's arrest last year, Groff's attorney Bachner, vehemently denied the claims against his client.
News that Groff is facing no prosecution comes as pressure mounts on the other alleged 'recruiters', sexual partners or friends of Epstein.
Groff was named along with Kellen, Marcinkova and Ross, in a non-prosecution agreement which Epstein signed with federal prosecutors in Florida in 2008.
The widely-criticized deal allowed Epstein to serve a lenient sentence at Palm Beach County jail on charges of soliciting a minor, rather than face a federal sex-trafficking indictment.
The sweetheart deal said that prosecutors would not bring criminal charges against Groff and the other women who it called 'potential co-conspirators.'
Neither Groff nor the three other women have ever been charged with any crimes.
Nor were they called to testify in Maxwell's four-week trial, which heard sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14.
Brad Edwards, an attorney representing dozens of Epstein victims and who has pursued the pedophile for more than a decade said Maxwell's conviction has raised questions as to whether she will 'spill the beans on the other abusers.'
'Let's be clear, Ghislaine Maxwell is the top of the pyramid. There are others who should be held accountable but none more dangerous and evil as she,' Edwards told DailyMail.com.
'When I heard about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell 13 tears ago, I decided not to stop until justice was served for all of the victims. Today is another huge step.
'But it's not over. Everyone else who played a role knows who they are.'
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