Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that he will sign legislation allowing the release of grand jury testimony about late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein, a wealthy Palm Beach resident, was investigated by Palm Beach County authorities in 2006 for allegedly sexually abusing young girls at his mansion, leading to a grand jury investigation.
Through a deal approved by prosecutors in 2007, Epstein sidestepped federal charges and agreed to plead guilty to two state prostitution charges, including procuring a minor for sex.
Read: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Deploys More Florida Personnel To Texas Border
The House and Senate this month unanimously approved the bill (HB 117), sponsored by Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, R-Highland Beach, and Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton. It would expand an exception to a prohibition on the disclosure of testimony or evidence received by a grand jury.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex-trafficking offenses involving minor girls, and he was found dead in a New York jail in what was deemed a suicide.
The Palm Beach Post filed a lawsuit in 2019 in an effort to obtain a court order to unseal the 2006 grand jury records.
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