How American society shields perpetrators of child sexual abuse

Several pictures provided by the Department of Justice on Jan. 30, 2026, as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Martin Bureau/AFP via Getty Images Widespread denial accompanied the public exposure of Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long sexual abuse and trafficking of girls and women. After the U.S. Justice Department released millions of case documents on Epstein in January 2026, billionaires, politicians, heads of state and academics proclaimed their ignorance of Epstein’s global network of sexual…