While many aspects of the Jeffrey Epstein case have been scrutinized over the years, one sticking point that many keep returning to involves the notorious criminal’s 2008 plea agreement, which has been criticized as an overly “sweetheart deal” considering the severity of his crimes.

Facing dozens of accusations of underage sex trafficking that should have been prosecuted on a federal level, Epstein instead had the most egregious charges shelved in favor of lesser state charges in exchange for pleading guilty. As a result, Epstein served fewer than four months in jail before he was given a unique arrangement in which he was allowed to leave prison for 16 hours a day, six days a week under a work release program.

Now thanks to documents released by the Department of Justice, new details have been revealed about the privileges Epstein was granted, including an SUV that was specially outfitted for sex.

For his work release, Epstein was transported daily between jail and his downtown office in an SUV that had been equipped with a bed. Along the way, said a woman interviewed by the FBI, the SUV would park in the prison parking lot where she and Epstein would have sex.

According to the woman, she was a former model from Slovakia whom Epstein had begun grooming when she was in high school, and by the time he was arrested, they’d been sexually involved for several years. While some have suggested that the woman was responsible for recruiting Epstein’s victims, she was one of four “assistants” given immunity in exchange for his “sweetheart deal.” The two then, she asserted, maintained their sexual liaison while he was technically imprisoned — a situation allowed by members of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department, who she said were on friendly terms with Epstein.

"A number of survivors have made clear that Epstein's exploitation did not stop during his incarceration,” said Lauren Hersh, director of the anti-trafficking group World Without Exploitation. "At best, Epstein's highly unusual arrangement demonstrates law enforcement's negligence. More likely, this is symptomatic of a system that prioritized accommodating a predator over delivering justice for survivors and protecting vulnerable girls and women."

"If all of this is true,” said Spencer Kuvin, a Florida attorney who represented many of Epstein's accusers, “they allow a sexual predator to continue his activities even while he was supposed to be in custody, and it just highlights the nature of the sweetheart deal that he got and the preferential treatment he received because of his wealth.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet