The FBI missed an opportunity to protect thousands of victims after a complaint about Jeffrey Epstein was not acted on by the FBI, campaigners have said.
Maria Farmer, whose sister Annie Farmer was abused by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, filed a report against him on September 3 1996 despite threats that he would ‘burn her house down’.
The FBI never publicly confirmed the complaint until the report surfaced as part of the trove of Epstein files released this week.
‘I’ve waited 30 years,’ she told the New York Times, ‘I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.
‘They should be ashamed. They harmed all of these little girls. That part devastates me.’
Ms Farmer claimed for years that she tried to raise the alarm about Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, but faced accusations of fabricating the story.
But her complaint – with her name redacted – was published alongside thousands of other documents by the Department of Justice under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
It reads: ‘Complaintant [stated] that she is a professional artist and took pictures of her sisters 12 and 16 yrs for her own personnel [sic] art work.
‘Epstein stole the photos and negatives and is believed to have sold the pictures to potential buyers.
‘Epstein at one time requested [redacted] to take pictures of young girls at swimming pools.
‘EPSTEIN is now threatening [redacted] that if she tells anyone about the photos, he will burn her house down.’
Ms Farmer, who was hired by Epstein to acquire art on his behalf, confirmed in an interview that the stolen photos included nude images.
She only discovered the photos were missing after she left Epstein following what she described as a sexual assault at the hands of Epstein and Maxwell.
The FBI has never publicly recognized her report and an internal investigation into the justice department’s handling of Epstein’s case did not mention it.
Fuller said she did not hear from the FBI until a decade later when they launched a fuller investigation, which ended in a plea deal being agreed in 2008.
Ms Farmer’s lawyer said the revelation about the complaint was a ‘triumph and tragedy for Maria and so many survivors.’
Jennifer Freeman added: ‘Maria Farmer reported Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes in 1996.
‘Had the government done their job, and properly investigated Maria’s report, over 1000 victims could have been spared and 30 years of trauma avoided.’
However, Ms Farmer claimed her report published in the Epstein files did not reflect the full breadth of her complaint at the time.
She says she urged investigators to take a look at Epstein’s wider circle of confidants and his companion, Maxwell.
Ms Farmer’s sister Annie testified at Maxwell’s 2021 trial that she was just 16 when Epstein’s partner gave her a nude message at his New Mexico ranch.
Epstein also climbed into bed with her one morning to ‘cuddle,’ she told the court.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has made public never-before-seen photos of the disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the celebrities with whom he socialised.
Celebrities – including pop stars, politicians and businessmen – have been pictured in the DOJ’s release of new Epstein documents.
Famous faces included in Friday’s release of images include Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, former US president Bill Clinton and The Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger.
Most of the photos have been released without captions or context and individuals’ presence in them is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@usnewsrank.com.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Discover more from USNewsRank
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.