Teen prostitution jails billionaire

PALM BEACH, Fla., July 1 (UPI) -- A billionaire is now wearing a jail uniform after pleading guilty to hiring underage Palm Beach County, Fla., girls for erotic massages and sex.

Jeffrey Epstein, 55, will spend 18 months in the Palm Beach County Jail followed by a year of house arrest at his 13,000-square-foot mansion, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Tuesday.

Epstein's house arrest will include other restrictions such as a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, an hourly daily activity log and a stern warning from Judge Deborah Pucillo that he not possess, watch or view any "obscene, pornographic or sexually stimulating material relative to your deviant behavior."

Police reports said that in 2004 and 2005 Epstein paid a 20-year-old male to find girls -- "the younger the better"-- to "work" for him. Epstein was arrested in July 2006 and pleaded guilty Monday to procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and felony offer to commit prostitution. The maximum penalty was 15 years in prison.

The former money manager still faces federal civil lawsuits filed by four girls each seeking in excess of $50 million.