Friday, May 26, 2023 very projects a us . John is currently mitigated with a steel xking to rehabilitate sectior pepe pam. The heard on second area of erosion. onal Park The project will involve i sas, . I- ehabilitate lation of a mechanically Stabilized mon Bay earth retaining wall at one site, and of Honey- _ installation of a rock face trapezoi- = pe - rockery wall at the second site. .an In response to questioning from it between St. John CZM Committee Sieber eaches. Rafe Boulon, Campo-Allen said ment fail- native stone will be used, and the it threaten rockery wall’s facade was chosen esult in a with the viewshed in mind. e sections said there are known 2construc- archaeological sites close to, but not said Kim _ at, the two failing sections of road- sre eee a” Court filing claims ex-first lady was Ep By SUZANNE CARLSON Daily News Staff A court filing by lawyers for JPMorgan Chase accuses former Vir- gin Islands first lady Cecile deJongh of facilitating Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of women and girls by helping him influence local politicians, and says deJongh even asked Epstein to suggest changes to the territory's Sex offender “Epstein’s primary conduit for spreading money and influence throughout the USVI government was First Lady deJongh.” who worked as Epstein’s local fixer for two decades, including throughout her husband John deJongh Jr.'s tenure as VII. gover- nor from 2007 to 2015, according to the filing. DeJongh told Epstein w hich govern- ment officials to pay off, and devised ways to justify his v ictims” presence in the territory by enrolling them at the University of the Virgin Islands so they could obtain student visas, according to the filing. Ina statement to The Daily News on Thursday, UV1 President David Hall denied all allegations in the bank's filing. Attorneys for the bank say docu- ments obtained during the discovery s, which is still ongoing, show that deJongh asked Epstein — a registered sex offender — to suggest Jeanna ta the territory's sex offender IRGIN ISLANDS 66 The Virgin Islands Daily News 3 Epstein’s primary conduit for spreading money and influence throughout the usvl government was First Lady deJongh. Former first lady Cecile deJongh and h according to the filing. “Lest there be doubt that Epstein’s goal was to gain influence, First Lady deJongh explicitly advised Epstein on how to buy control of the USVI political class,” according to the filing, telling him “how to vote and whom to — Court documents filed by JPMorgan Chase lawyers oe OS er husband, former Gov. John deJongh Jr. he would ‘support [then-USVI sena- tor] Carlton Dowe’s bid to go back to VIPA’ who would be a ‘good person for us’ there.” Prior to his election, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr, in 2018, also “facilitated do- nations by Epstein to USVT's schools and little leanes.” and Epstein also lawsuit filed by the VIL Justice Depart- ment in the US. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The government has accused the bank of facilitating and profiting from Epstein’s crimes. But attomeys for the bank say the government provided a safe haven for Epstein and allowed ~ echatione try the Friday, May 26, 2023 Vv stein’s local fixer life. Who knew what, when? In the ongoing civil case, the bank has asserted several affirmative de- fenses, including that the V.I. govern- ment has “unclean hands” because of officials’ dealings with Epstein. The VI. government has asked the court to deny certain affirmative defenses. But Ellsworth responded in the bank's latest filing that it’s the V.L. government that bears responsibility for enabling Epstein’s crimes. “To grant USVI immunity from these defenses would be to allow itto profit from Epstein twice: first directly, then again in a civil suit which it could just as easily see reflected in a mirror,” according to the filing. A judge has not yet ruled on the dispute over affirmative defenses. Meanwhile, the bank's lawyers are naming Cecile de Jongh and other Virgin Islanders as key parties respon- sible for helping Epstein thrive in the territory, despite his status as @ Sx of- fender convicted of procuring children for prostitution in Florida in 2008. The VIL. Justice Department is re- sponsible for monitoring sex offenders in the territory, including Epstein, who claimed Little St. James island off St. Thomas as his primary residence for two decades before his August 2019 suicide. Several sections of Ellsworth’s filing that remain partially redacted refer to the territory's lack of enforcement of its sex offender laws, and the unre= EFTA00129016