Former students recall Jeffrey Epstein's 'persistent attention' on teenage girls during his teaching days

Financier Jeffrey Epstein has been hit with more accusations.

Epstein allegedly recently paid two possible co-conspirators in a non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida 12 years ago a combined $350,000. That plea deal was approved by then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, who on Friday announced his resignation as the Trump administration's labor secretary.

The recent accusations were made by federal prosecutors in New York on Friday, who recently arrested and charged Epstein with sex trafficking minors. "This course of action, and in particular its timing, suggests the defendant was attempting to further influence co-conspirators who might provide information against him in light of the recently re-emerging allegations," prosecutors said. Concerned that Epstein will tamper with witnesses, they also argued that he should be denied bail while he awaits trial.

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Further, eight former students of Epstein, who in the 1970s taught math and physics at the Dalton School in New York, said that his conduct with teenage girls "had left an impression that had lingered for decades," The New York Times reports. One student recalled him attending a party where students were drinking. Others recalled his "persistent attention" on girls in hallways and classrooms, although none of the women interviewed by the Times accused Epstein of making unwanted physical contact with them. A few students did say Epstein had an uncomfortably close relationship with one of their female peers.

Epstein has never been accused of any crimes related to his time at Dalton and denied having sexual contact with any of his students during a 2009 deposition, The Daily Beast reports. When asked during the deposition if he had any sexual contact with his former students after his teaching days, Epstein replied, "not that I remember." Read more at The New York Times and The Daily Beast.