Top Nevada leaders have joined a slew of Democrats calling for Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta to step down amid renewed scrutiny of a plea deal he brokered as a prosecutor with accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein, a politically well-connected hedge fund billionaire, faces 45 years in prison after federal prosecutors indicted him on a pair of federal child sex trafficking charges. 

The 66-year-old financier is accused of using cash to lure underage girls to his plush estates in the Upper East Side and Palm Beach, where prosecutors say he sexually abused and exploited dozens of minor girls as young as 14. 

The indictment describes the victims as "particularly vulnerable to exploitation." Epstein has pleaded not guilty.

The latest charges have proven a political nightmare for Acosta, a former US Attorney in Florida who in 2008 struck a deal that saw Epstein serve a short stint in county jail on two state prostitution charges. 

Renewed scrutiny of that agreement has prompted a parade of Democratic demands for Acosta’s resignation, including from longtime U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., and U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., also piled on, writing in a Tuesday afternoon statement that Acosta showed a “blatant disregard for the child victims of Mr. Epstein.”

“As a former Attorney General of Nevada who has fought against the sexual exploitation of women and children, it’s clear to me that Secretary Acosta must resign,” Masto concluded.

Masto is one of eight Senate Democrats who voted to confirm Acosta’s cabinet appointment. She did not immediately respond to questions about when she first learned of the allegations against Epstein and whether she regretted supporting his cabinet nomination. 

Masto’s statement said she reviewed Epstein’s indictment and the reporting of the Miami Herald, which uncovered details of his 2008 plea deal after it was initially kept secret from victims. The newspaper called the arrangement the “deal of a lifetime” for Epstein, who has long had close connections to powerful figures such as President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.

The agreement did not go entirely unnoticed during Acosta’s cabinet confirmation hearings.

The Herald last year reported that U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., highlighted Acosta’s role in the plea agreement while explaining her opposition to his nomination. 

Acosta has so far remained defiant in the face of mounting pressure to step down. 

The 50-year-old cabinet secretary on Tuesday tweeted that “the crimes committed by Epstein are horrific, and I am pleased that (New York) prosecutors are moving forward with a case based on new evidence.” 

Epstein has pleaded not guilty to the latest charges filed against him by the U.S. Attorney’s office. His bail hearing is scheduled for July 15.