Epstein-Linked Banker Jes Staley Sparks Outrage as New York Church Leaders Quietly Integrate Him Into Congregation — After Ties to Sick Pedo Destroyed His High-flying Career
Jes Staley was banned from the British financial industry for lying about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Jan. 28 2026, Published 9:44 p.m. ET
A disgraced banking executive linked to Jeffrey Epstein has angered worshippers with his regular presence at an upscale Manhattan church, RadarOnline.com has confirmed.
Jes Staley, 68, has never shown remorse after he admitted in court he'd slept with a member of the serial pedophile's staff.
Now, certain members of All Souls Unitarian Church on Manhattan's Upper East Side want him banished from their house of worship, feeling church officials have made him feel all too welcome.
Staley, the former group chief executive of Barclays, began attending the church six months ago — not soon after he testified in a London court case in which he sought to restore his battered reputation.
"The timing raised eyebrows," according to journalist Carson Griffith, a noted chronicler of the rich and famous in New York.
Jes Staley resigned as the CEO of Barclays in 2021 after his close ties to Epstein were revealed.
"People are used to sinners in church. What troubled them was being expected to sit beside him and worship without any acknowledgment or expression of remorse for conduct that had been widely reported and publicly adjudicated."
Writing on her Substack Rich People S---, Griffith said Staley first attended All Souls in July last year.
She said: "In June 2025, British financial regulators upheld a lifetime ban preventing Staley from holding senior roles in the United Kingdom, concluding that he had mischaracterized the nature and duration of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and remained in contact with Epstein after his 2008 conviction.
"The tribunal said the underlying evidence had not changed and criticized Staley for showing no remorse. Weeks later, he was sitting quietly among congregants at All Souls."
Staley upset some congregants when he began attending All Souls Unitarian Church in July 2025.
That, according to Griffith's sources, upset parishioners who were said to have raised alarm bells after recognizing Staley, upset that he had never shown remorse for his friendship with disgraced financier Epstein.
She wrote: "At the church, there was no announcement from the pulpit and no mention in the weekly bulletin.
"According to multiple sources within the congregation, Staley’s arrival in July 2025 was never formally disclosed. There was no effort to contextualize who had joined or why. He simply began attending."
The congregants shared their concerns with church leadership, but were told "everyone was welcome" at the house of worship, including Staley.
However, the parishioners remained furious with church leaders for not informing the congregation how Epstein's pal — the previous head of the private bank at JPMorgan, where Epstein was a client — had begun attending services.
JPMorgan was previously sued by the US Virgin Islands for allegedly ignoring Epstein’s sex trafficking.
In the litigation, Staley was asked about having "had sexual intercourse with a woman … at Mr. Epstein’s brother’s apartment" in New York.
Staley said he was introduced to the woman by Jeffrey Epstein, the encounter was consensual and that "she was a part of his staff as I recall."
Jes Staley Didn't Seem Contemplative During Church Services
Congregants claimed Staley spent much of him time in church glued to his phone.
In previously leaked emails between Staley and Epstein, Staley described their friendship as "profound" and referred to Epstein as “family.”
In one email chain from 2010, Staley told Epstein: "That was fun. Say hi to Snow White."
When Epstein asked "what character would you like next," Staley replied: "Beauty and the Beast."
Their friendship was also so close Staley was reported to have made multiple trips to Epstein's infamous Caribbean island and was a frequent guest at his New York mansion.
In June 2025, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority banned Staley for life from holding executive positions after it was determined he lied about the level of closeness of his relationship to Epstein, whose death in August 2019 in a New York City jail cell was ruled a suicide.
Staley had previously resigned from his position at Barclays in 2021 over concerns about how he characterized his relationship with Epstein to the bank and regulators.
According to blogger Griffith, All Souls church leaders refused to disclose whether Staley had made a sizeable donation to allow him to be seated in the church's exclusive pews.
There were further allegations about how church bosses "appeared to select specific members to greet Staley and make him feel comfortable," she said.
What's more, the banker's behavior during services also upset members.
"He is frequently on his phone throughout the service and shows little visible sign of introspection," Griffith wrote.
"He attends alone, without his wife, and carries himself with the ease of someone accustomed to elite spaces continuing to accommodate him."
The journalist added: "To some congregants, the timing of Staley’s turn, or return, toward organized religion stands out. They noted that in other high-profile cases involving Epstein, religious affiliation had been encouraged as a way to signal seriousness and rehabilitation.
"In this case, they felt, the moral burden had shifted away from Staley and onto the people sitting around him."
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Staley was outed in December 2025 as the co-executor of Epstein's estate.
One congregant said they considered distributing flyers outside the church to alert other members to Staley’s presence and his ties to Epstein, but decided against it because they deeply value the church and did not want to disrupt it.
"For those who raised concerns, the issue was not exclusion," Griffith said. It was accountability. Without disclosure or remorse, congregants said, they were being asked to absorb the discomfort themselves."
Staley's ties to Epstein have remained in the news since he began attending All Souls.
During a tense September 2025 House Oversight Committee hearing with FBI director Kash Patel, Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie claimed that Staley was the one specific name out of 20 men involved in s-- crimes given to him by Epstein victims' attorneys.
However, the Justice Department refused to confirm his claims.
Massie said: "They sent a six-page memo to Congress, and they cited pre-existing laws as reasons that they weren't going to follow our law."
In December 2025, it was revealed Staley and fellow Epstein associate Larry Summers were appointed as executors of Epstein's estate, as per documents released by the Justice Department.
Leadership at All Souls did not respond to a request for comment.
