TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - A high-profile financier who faces federal sex trafficking charges donated $50,000 to the University of Arizona in 2017, the Arizona Republic reports.
The Republic and the Daily Beast website report that Jeffrey Epstein gave the money to the university through his foundation Gratitude America Ltd. The money was designated for a 2017 Science of Consciousness conference, the Daily Beast reports.
Pam Scott, the university’s associate vice president of external communications, tells the Republic that the university didn’t know of Epstein’s involvement in the foundation. Scott says the university does not plan to return the donation.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution under an agreement that required him to spend 13 months in jail and register as a sex offender. The agreement has been widely criticized for secretly ending a federal sex abuse investigation involving at least 40 teenage girls at the time that could have landed him behind bars for life.
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