Come on, man. No one could be this stupid, right? Right?

Wrooooooooong, at least according to prosecutors announcing the indictment against Jeffrey Epstein. In a search of his Manhattan residence, Epstein allegedly had a trove of photographs that could add child pornography charges to his legal woes:

Prosecutors say federal agents investigating wealthy sex offender Jeffrey Epstein found “nude photographs of what appeared to be underage girls” while searching his Manhattan mansion.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a press conference Monday agents discovered the photos while executing a search warrant following Epstein’s arrest Saturday on sex trafficking charges.

Interestingly, the indictment itself makes no mention of any photographs. That is surely due to the fact that the grand jury handed down the indictment well before investigators searched Epstein’s residence, which only took place after his arrest on Saturday. But when they finally did get around to it, they hit the disgusting jackpot, prosecutors revealed in their memo opposing bail for Epstein:

In other words, get ready for a revised indictment in the near future. Epstein will be looking at prison time so long that he might have to donate his body to Florence for another hundred years to satisfy the sentence.

Think about this for a moment, assuming that investigators have verified that the photos are of underaged girls. (That will be an obvious point of contention if and when this goes to trial.) Nothing in this indictment alleges illegal conduct beyond 2005, three years before Alex Acosta cobbled together a plea deal that let Epstein off with 13 months in a work-release program. If these pictures are from that period, then hoo boy. It would mean that not only did Epstein not get rid of the incriminating evidence at that time, he held it for more than a decade afterward.

Talk about “not chastened.” Regardless of the vintage of these photographs, you’d think Epstein would have cleaned house after the Miami Herald exposé last November. He must have thought the feds would never bother with him again, perhaps because of his personal connections to the Clintons and Donald Trump, among others. Wrooooooooong again.

If these photos do date back to the 2002-5 period, though, think about what this says about the original prosecution of Epstein. That would suggest that prosecutors never executed a proper search warrant before dealing the case into a misdemeanor. Alex Acosta will have more questions to answer if that turns out to be the case.

Meanwhile, the DoJ is clearly taking Epstein seriously now. In their presser, prosecutors are begging more victims to come forward so that they can match them up with the evidence they now have. One of them says Epstein is at the “top of our list for major cases,” which also says something about Acosta’s previous work. Thank goodness they’re taking Epstein seriously now, and thanks to the Miami Herald’s Julie Brown, who took it seriously all along.

Update: I really should have included Allahpundit’s reaction to this in the original post, because it’s perfect:

The feds are eventually going to find CDs labeled “Illegal Shit,” “Extremely Illegal Shit,” and “Life Term, No Parole” https://t.co/m8xlDu8M2u

— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) July 8, 2019

Update: Worth noting, but totally expected at this stage:

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York announced two counts against Epstein on Monday morning: one count of sex trafficking conspiracy and one count of sex trafficking, according to the indictment.

Epstein appeared in court Monday afternoon dressed in a blue jail uniform and pleaded not guilty.

Epstein’s attorneys aren’t going to have Epstein admit anything until they get a chance to see all of the charges that eventually will get filed against their client. They’ll want to know whether a deal can be made, or whether the feds really do have a case first. Defendants with these resources can afford to wait, although it’s almost certain that Epstein will be doing his waiting in jail rather than out on bail.