TIL Jeffrey Epstein may have held powerful influence over the nation's largest sex offender database via his ties to Leon Black

In the most recent episode of her podcast New Orleans Unsolved, independent investigator Anna Christie provides details regarding contracts between U.S. cities and the world's largest sex offender database OffenderWatch (parent company Watch Systems LLC).

According to Christie, a contract between Lansing, MI and Offender Watch/Watch Systems LLC, written prior to 2020 specifies that all sex offender data will be stored by a data management company called Rackspace in San Antonio, Texas.

This seemingly minor detail that Christie has uncovered, could actually be extremely significant, given that Rackspace was acquired by Leon Black's Apollo Global Management in August of 2016. (Interesting side note, this was the same month that a Rackspace employee was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for child pornography):

•Aug 2016: Apollo Global Management Acquires Rackspace, Pins Hopes on Struggling Cloud Provider

•Aug 2016: Rackspace fired Jason Maurice Kirby, 39, from his $75,000-a-year job in November 2014 after an audit turned up the inappropriate activity, and an FBI forensic examination of his work and home computers located nearly 3,400 child porn images. Agents also found he used software to “wipe” his activity and try to cover his tracks, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson.

Leon Black previously stepped down from his position as CEO of Apollo, due to controversy regarding his ties to Epstein. After his departure, a new CEO, Marc Rowen, was appointed to the company. However, as Christie also points out, recently released Epstein Files indicate meetings and communications between Rowen and Epstein continued, including an email from Epstein to Rowan regarding Rothschild funding.

•In February 2016 Epstein and Rowan traded emails about a potential Apollo corporate inversion, a tax maneuver designed to lower a company’s tax rate by reincorporating in a lower-tax country. The two discussed tapping banking firm Rothschild for the potential inversion. “i can join the call if you think appropriate,” Epstein emailed Rowan. “using rothschild for the inversion allows interesting structures.” Rowan replied: “Agreed.”

This past Monday, March 2nd, 2026, a class action lawsuit was brought against Apollo regarding these Epstein ties.

•Legal: Class action accuses Apollo of hiding Epstein ties in SEC filings

The suit, filed March 2 in the Southern District of New York, targets the alternative asset giant alongside CEO Marc Rowan and co-founder Leon Black. At its core, the case claims that what Apollo told investors and regulators — that the firm never did business with Epstein — was false.

The documented business transactions between Rowan, Black, and Epstein, which were previously denied, are disturbing to say the least. It's hard to dismiss the possibility that Epstein (or any of the powerful individuals in his network), could have used this influence to their advantage.

I'm currently searching for a copy of the Lansing, MI contract, and will add a link here once I find it, but I was able to find another OffenderWatch contract mentioned in the episode.

Oddly, as Christie also points out in the episode, an OffenderWatch/Watch System LLC contract with the city of Fort Worth, TX, contains an odd but potentially related paragraph regarding vendors who boycott Israel:

•https://publicdocuments.fortworthtexas.gov/CSODOCS/DocView.aspx?id=221086&dbid=0&repo=city-secretary&cr=1

If you're unfamiliar with the podcast and wondering what any of this has to do with an unsolved murder in New Orleans, it turns out that the OffenderWatch database was created by St. Tammany Louisiana native Lou Luzynski along with former St. Tammany Sheriff, Jack Strain.

Former St. Tammany Sheriff Jack Strain guilty on all sex crime charges

While Christie's podcast began as an attempt to investigate the unsolved 1982 murder of a young boy in New Orleans named Eddie Wells, it soon turned into an investigation of several seemingly related murders in Orleans and St. Tammany parishes, that all involved a former New Orleans police officer and lead detective for the NOPD pedophile unit, Stanley Burkhardt.

Former NOPD detective, convicted sex offender, back in jail facing new charges

Early in her investigation, Christie noticed Wells' death certificate listed an incorrect address in St. Tammany parish rather than his mother's address in Orleans, and she suspected this information may have been intentionally falsified by Burkhardt.

As Christie explains in this episode, the address incorrectly listed on Wells' death certificate, 516 Rutland Avenue in Covington Louisiana, is also the current address of OffenderWatch parent company, Watch Systems LLC.

By reviewing old public records, Christie was able to confirm that at the time of Wells' death and the other unsolved murders, the property listed on his death certificate, was owned by Lou Luzynski, creator of the largest sex offender database, OffenderWatch.

In October 2025, OffenderWatch announced the company had received a large investment from STG Allegro to expand its reach.

Through this strategic partnership, OffenderWatch® and STG will use the capital to enhance the Company's product offerings, accelerate innovation, and expand its reach to deliver even greater value to law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.