Child Sexual Abuse Is No Hoax

An explosive fight over the “Epstein files” has unexpectedly consumed the Trump presidency in recent days. The administration seems bewildered by the scandal’s staying power, but the furor should come as no surprise. If there’s one thing internet conspiracists are laser-focused on, it’s child sexual abuse (CSA).

As the story dominates headlines, it’s worth considering another CSA scandal that is, by contrast, unfolding quietly under the surface. In the last year alone, thousands of childhood survivors have come forward with harrowing stories of exploitation, abuse, and outright rape while held in government custody. Its magnitude is far greater than Epstein’s alleged network, spanning dozens of states and thousands of victims. And unlike the crimes committed on a private island decades ago, these are occurring right now, on U.S. soil, under government supervision.

Instead of disrespecting Epstein’s victims by calling the saga a “hoax” or a “scam,” here’s a tip for the Trump administration: Use the bully pulpit to take control of the narrative and launch a national effort to end the ongoing epidemic of CSA in state juvenile detention centers.

Every day, around 27,000 kids are locked up in youth facilities across the country, separated from their families and placed under the authority of state employees with a huge amount of power over their lives. According to federal data, more than 7 percent report being sexually abused while in custody. At some facilities, the rate is more than twice that. A 2024 Department of Justice report flatly stated that Texas is “failing to prevent staff from sexually abusing children” within its juvenile detention system—the second largest in the country.

But the official numbers only include cases that are reported quickly. The vast majority of CSA victims don’t report it for decades, if ever. Research shows that up to 60 percent of victims delay disclosure until adulthood, often because of fear, shame, or the power dynamics at play. Thus, the true scale of abuse in juvenile detention is almost certainly far worse than official statistics suggest.

Now, thanks to a national reassessment of the statute of limitations around sex crimes, victims of the juvenile detention system are finally coming forward (many for the first time) to expose systemic abuse that went undetected for decades. A single facility in New Hampshire has generated 1,300 lawsuits—orders of magnitude larger than even the most grandiose allegations against Epstein. Los Angeles County alone faces a proposed $4 billion settlement, the largest municipal settlement in history.

Next time the White House press secretary fields a question about the missing footage from Epstein’s jail cell, she could take the opportunity to highlight the decaying security infrastructure that makes such a lapse possible. America’s detention centers are riddled with blind spots that serve to hide abuse from prying eyes. And footage goes missing because of neglected, outdated security systems—not Illuminati conspiracies.

The Epstein scandal provides what public administration theorists call a “policy window”: a chance to get basic security working in our correctional institutions. The simplest place to start is with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).

PREA Reform Recommendations

• Enforce and Reform Oversight: Tie PREA compliance to meaningful penalties; eliminate conflicts of interest in audits; and ensure independent, unannounced inspections of youth facilities.


• Protect and Empower Youth and Staff: Create safe, external reporting channels; prosecute perpetrators and complicit administrators; and modernize surveillance tech like video and body cameras.


• Invest in People and Places: Raise hiring standards, fund professional staff recruitment, downsize large institutions into therapeutic environments, and mandate full public transparency of abuse data.

Conclusion

Sensationalist headlines featuring U.S. presidents, spy agencies, private jets, creepy temples, and honest-to-God British princes make for better clickbait than boring regulatory improvements. But the reality is that Jeffrey Epstein is dead, and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison. The Trump administration should use this moment for an overdue reckoning with the predators who are still out there cynically exploiting systems designed to help young people.

Nothing in the Epstein files will protect children in the future. Instead, let’s save the children who can still be saved.