I am Jeffrey Epstein. For twelve years I have been the subject of greater and lesser media attention. In that time, I have never before spoken publicly. This was in part because I did not recognize the person portrayed in the media: I know who I was, the media did not. I believed that I could at least reclaim my privacy, if not my good name, by being private. That, obviously, is not the case. So, now, reluctantly, let me try to overcome the media's version of me and tell you a little about myself and my circumstance. I am a successful investor and have devoted a significant amount of the money I've made to scientific and medical research. I am also an unmarried man and have openly devoted a significant part of my life to sexual adventure. I am a pleasure seeker, a hedonist. I chose not to lead a convention, monogamous, domestic life. I have also frequently paid for sex. In 2006, the police in Palm Beach, Florida, where I have lived, began a systematic surveillance of my house. For over six months they observed, on sometimes a daily basis, many different women entering and leaving. These women, most of whom worked in local massage parlors and strip clubs, came to my house to give massages, often with a happy ending, sometimes more. They were paid approximately $TK. Most of these women, more than 100 in all, returned on one or more occasions. Many introduced their friends to me. [No, this is not conventional behavior. Yes, this is a demi-monde that exists on the fringe of respectable society where men who have money and women who need money meet] Paying for sex, as often as it was available, became on my part a compulsive behavior. The Palm Beach police interviewed some TK of the women who came to my house, most were unwilling witnesses pressured by the police, each described that they had accepted payment for sexual services. I have no defense here. I paid for sex and broke the law. The Palm Beach police further identified TK of these women