US Politics
Epstein survivor finally learns from files what happened to 1996 child porn complaint she made to FBI – years before financier was investigated
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The release of tens of thousands of files from probes into deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has confirmed that a former employee warned the FBI in 1996 that he was seeking out child pornography – a decade before the agency investigated the financier.
“I’ve waited 30 years,” Maria Farmer told The New York Times after the Justice Department released files Friday. Among the documents was Farmer’s report to the bureau, which is thought to be the first time someone reported Epstein to law enforcement.
Farmer, who accused Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell of sexually assaulting her in a 2019 lawsuit, has said she faced threats and claims that she was inventing her story, for years.
“I can’t believe it,” Farmer added. “They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
The FBI has never publicly acknowledged the report.
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The FBI declined to comment.
The document reveals that Farmer, an artist, warned in 1996 that Epstein stole photos she had taken of her 12- and 16-year-old sisters, and alleges he may have sold the pictures to buyers.
Farmer told the Times the photos included nude images. The artist also claimed in the complaint that Epstein at one time requested she take photos of young girls at swimming pools, and later threatened to burn down Farmer’s house down if she told anyone about the photos.
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Farmer filed a lawsuit against the FBI in May in Washington, D.C., alleging it did “absolutely nothing” to stop Epstein until it was too late. The bureau didn’t start investigating the financier until 2006.
“The FBI, in violation of its mandatory obligations under regulations and DOJ policies, chose to do absolutely nothing,” the lawsuit states.
Farmer has said she also tried to urge federal officials to investigate Epstein’s ties to powerful people like former president Bill Clinton and President Donald Trump. While both are known to have socialized with Epstein – and were photographed with him – neither has been accused of wrongdoing.
Farmer claims that she encountered Trump in 1995 in Epstein’s Manhattan office, and that the real estate mogul stared at her bare legs.
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Epstein then said: “‘No, no, she’s not here for you,’” Farmer told The New York Times.
“The president was never in [Epstein’s] office,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said of the claim. “The fact is that the president kicked him out of his club for being a creep.”
Farmer’s sister, Annie Farmer, alleges she was invited to the Epstein ranch in New Mexico when she was 16, where she said Epstein climbed into bed with her to “cuddle” and Maxwell gave her a massage where she rubbed her bare chest. Maxwell is serving 20 years in federal prison on sex trafficking charges for her role in the Epstein ring.
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Scores of Epstein survivors have pushed the government to release more documents, following Friday’s heavily redacted tranche of materials.
Officials will share more documents as part of the release in the coming weeks, according to the Justice Department.
The Trump administration initially resisted calls to release the documents, though by November the president gave into political pressure and signed a bill authorizing the disclosures.
