A previously undisclosed FBI report has revealed details of law enforcement inaction after early allegations against Jeffrey Epstein, highlighting the consequences for dozens of teenage girls who were abused in the years that followed.
The document emerged after Donald Trump’s justice department failed to meet a legal deadline on Friday to release all Epstein-related files. While the disclosure was largely limited, the FBI report has drawn renewed scrutiny of how authorities handled early warnings.
The report was filed in 1996 by Maria Farmer, a painter who worked for Epstein. Farmer told investigators that Epstein had stolen nude photographs she had taken of her sisters, aged 12 and 16, for her artwork.
Farmer’s sister, Annie Farmer, was later abused by Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, when she was 16. Despite Maria Farmer’s report, Epstein continued to abuse girls for years without facing prosecution.
According to the report, Maria Farmer told police that Epstein had taken the photographs and negatives and was believed to have sold them to potential buyers. The document also states that Epstein requested “pictures of young girls at swimming pools”.
Farmer said Epstein threatened her, telling her that if she spoke about the photographs he would burn her house down.
It remains unclear what action, if any, the FBI took following the report. The New York Times reported that the FBI has never publicly acknowledged receiving the complaint, and that an internal justice department review of the Epstein case did not reference it.
Epstein was not prosecuted for abusing teenage girls until the mid-2000s. The FBI declined a request for comment.
Speaking through her lawyer, Jennifer Freeman of Marsh Law, Maria Farmer said the release of the report brought mixed emotions.
“Shedding tears of joy for myself but also tears of sorrow for all of the other victims that the FBI failed,” she said.
Freeman, who is representing Farmer in a lawsuit against the federal government, said the document showed both “triumph and tragedy” for survivors.
“Maria Farmer reported Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes in 1996,” Freeman said. “Had the government done its job, over 1,000 victims could have been spared decades of trauma.”
Annie Farmer testified at Maxwell’s trial in 2021 that she was abused at Epstein’s New Mexico ranch. She told the court she was groomed by Epstein and Maxwell, beginning when her sister was working for Epstein in New York.
She described meeting Epstein at his Manhattan mansion in late 1995, after he offered to help with her education. During a later visit to the cinema, she said Epstein touched her inappropriately, leaving her frightened and distressed.
Annie Farmer said she did not initially tell her sister, fearing it would affect Maria’s job. In 1996, she travelled to Epstein’s ranch, believing she would be safe because Maxwell would be present.
She told the court that Maxwell instructed her on how to give Epstein foot massages before offering to give her a massage herself. Annie Farmer said Maxwell told her to undress and then touched her breasts without consent.
The following morning, she said Epstein climbed into her bed and pressed his body against her. She escaped by saying she needed to use the bathroom.
Court records and survivor accounts indicate Epstein’s abuse continued long after Maria Farmer first alerted authorities. When Epstein was arrested in 2019, prosecutors said he had abused dozens of minor girls between 2002 and 2005 at his homes in New York and Florida.
Epstein died in jail later that year. His 2008 plea deal in Florida, which allowed him to plead guilty to prostitution charges, came during a federal investigation involving at least 40 teenage girls.
Speaking after the release of the report, Annie Farmer said it was devastating to see proof that authorities had early knowledge of Epstein’s actions.
“To know they had this document all this time, and how many people were harmed after that, is incredibly emotional,” she said.
She also questioned whether the FBI failed to act out of negligence or because of Epstein’s connections.
“There are just so many questions,” she said, calling for greater transparency from the government.
