Jeffrey Epstein’s Wikipedia page was edited in 2010 to remove references to his status as a sex offender and a mugshot, an email released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) shows.
In an email to Epstein dated Nov. 6, 2010, an individual going by the name “Al Seckel” wrote that Wikipedia had “all sorts of protections” around his mug shot taken in 2006 by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
“They have all sorts of protection around your ‘mug shot’ picture on wiki, and so, we are hacking wiki now to remove it and replace it with the photo that you sent, which will have the headline: Jeffrey Epstein, businessman, philanthropist,” wrote the message’s sender, who was in email correspondence with Epstein in 2010, according to the files.
Jeffrey Epstein poses for a sex offender mugshot after being charged with procuring a minor for prostitution on July 25, 2013 in Florida. (Photo by Florida Department of Law Enforcement via Getty Images)
“BTW, we also took you out in the sex offender category, and removed the headline in beginning sentence from wiki that also stated ‘sex offender,’” the email continued. “And, now it just reads businessman, philanthropist.”
The Wikipedia page’s edit history reveals an edit made the day before the email was sent which removed the category “American sex offenders.” The edit was reverted minutes later, and a user stated “There is a cited reliable source for his sex offender status.”
The author of the email also claims to have “recorded the ip addresses” of individuals reverting their edits, stating that they “actually hacked the site to block them back in.”
The same IP address made 27 changes between late October and late November 2010, many of which were made within minutes of each other, often removing mentions of Epstein’s entry in the Florida Sex Offender Registry and the experiences of children on his island.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].