“They Had the Evidence All Along”: Epstein Survivor Finally Vindicated as 1996 FBI Complaint Comes to Light
The Justice Department’s partial release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday delivered a long-sought validation for survivor Maria Farmer and her sister Annie Farmer, confirming that Maria filed one of the earliest criminal complaints against Epstein in the 1990s.
Among the newly released materials was an Federal Bureau of Investigation document dated 1996 describing a complaint tied to child pornography allegations against Epstein. While the complainant’s name was redacted, Maria Farmer’s attorney, Jennifer Freeman, confirmed on CNN that the complaint was filed by her client.
The document’s “facts of complaint” section states that the woman, identified as a professional artist, had taken photographs of her underage sisters for her artwork. According to the filing, Epstein allegedly stole the photos and negatives and was believed to have sold them to potential buyers. It also alleges Epstein requested permission to photograph young girls at swimming pools and threatened to burn the complainant’s house down if she reported the theft.
While the disclosure marked a moment of vindication for Maria Farmer, it also underscored broader frustrations among Epstein survivors. Sources close to survivors told CNN that many struggled to navigate the Justice Department’s public “Epstein Library” in hopes of finding records tied to their own abuse, calling the system difficult to search and incomplete.
Survivor Jess Michaels said she spent hours trying to locate her victim impact statement and records related to calls she made to the FBI tip line, but came up empty. “Is this the best that the government can do?” she said. “Even an act of Congress isn’t getting us justice.”
Freeman said Maria Farmer’s 1996 complaint was one of the key documents she hoped would surface when the files were released. She added that she is now seeking answers about what authorities did in response to that complaint and why action was not taken sooner. “Why didn’t they act to stop this?” Freeman asked in an email to CNN.
The FBI document, stamped September 3, 1996, reinforces that Epstein was known to law enforcement years before federal and state charges were brought against him in New York and Florida. In a statement issued through her legal team, Maria Farmer said the FBI “failed” her and other victims by not acting on the warning signs.
Annie Farmer, who has said she was 16 when Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell abused her, described the release as emotionally overwhelming. Speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper, she said seeing the document in writing was devastating. “To know they had this document this entire time—and how many people were harmed after that date—has been very emotional,” she said.
Annie Farmer later became the fourth and final Epstein accuser to testify at Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial, a moment that helped cement the public record of abuse that survivors say authorities should have acted on decades earlier.
