in november 2018, the "herald" broke the story that "in 2007, despite substantial evidence that corroborated (female teenager's) stories of (sexual) abuse by epstein, the u.s. attorney in miami, alexander acosta, signed off on a secret deal for the multimillionaire, one that ensured he would never spend a day in prison." thus, the full extent of epstein's crimes and his collaborators remained hidden and the victims unaware of this arrangement. in july 2019, epstein was charged with sex trafficking dozens of minors between 2002 and 2005; reporting at the time noted how the "herald" brought public attention to accusations against epstein.