Epstein staffer reported him to FBI for child pornography in 1996—complaint was ignored for a decade

A former employee of Jeffrey Epstein had reported to the FBI and authorities that the infamous financier was looking at "child pornography" years before he was a known name and that he threatened to "burn her house down." However, after getting this report, federal authorities didn't do anything about it for years.

Maria Farmer, a former employee of Epstein who helped him purchase pieces of artwork, had filed a report about the financier on Sept. 3, 1996, per the New York Times. Farmer told the outlet that she has "waited 30 years" and finally feels "vindicated" about her filing the report on Epstein. “I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”

Farmer reported to authorities that she had taken some photos of her younger sisters, aged 16 and 12, for her personal artwork. However, some of the photos were in the nude. She said that Epstein had stolen the nude photos and asked her to take pictures of young girls at swimming pools.

“They should be ashamed,” Ms. Farmer said of the federal authorities that ignored her report: “They harmed all of these little girls. That part devastates me.” For years, Farmer has said that she tried to alert the FBI to the sex crimes committed by Epstein as well as his girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. With this latest batch of documents being released by the Trump administration, the report filed by Farmer was made public with her name redacted. She confirmed the report was made by her.

“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,” the complaint stated. “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.”

Farmer said that after she filed the report, she didn’t hear back from the FBI for nearly 10 years until the larger Florida investigation, where Epstein was granted his sweetheart deal. The complaint, Farmer claims, did not encompass all her concerns about Epstein, and that she also had things to say about Maxwell. She said she also urged authorities to look into other figures in Epstein’s orbit at the time, including then-President Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.

The complaint that was released by the FBI did not include other names in the documents aside from Epstein. Farmer’s sister, Annie, has publicly testified that at the age of 16, she went to Epstein’s ranch and got in bed with Maxwell to “cuddle.” She testified that Maxwell at the time gave her a massage, and rubbed her bare chest.