Mary Margaret Olohan(DCNF)
The FBI knew about allegations against convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell as early as 1996, an Epstein accuser says. Maxwell was not arrested until Thursday.
A grand jury indicted the British socialite and heiress on charges of conspiracy to entice minors to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors for illegal sex acts, transportation of a minor to engage in illegal sex acts, and perjury. She was arrested at 8:30 am Thursday morning in Bradford, New Hampshire.
The victims were as young as 14 years old, the indictment said, noting that both Maxwell and Epstein “knew that certain victims were in fact under the age of 18.” The indictment also describes how Maxwell allegedly groomed multiple minors for Epstein, “knowing that he had a sexual preference for underage girls.”
The grand jury indictment also mentions three victims who were allegedly trafficked by Maxwell and Epstein in the mid 1990s.
Heavily redacted documents obtained by the New York Times show that the FBI interviewed two alleged victims in 2006 – victims who allege that Maxwell and Epstein sexually abused them.
According to the two alleged victims, both the FBI and New York Police Department may have known of allegations against Maxwell and Epstein as early as 1996, as highlighted in the Netflix documentary “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich” and reported by The New York Times.
Painter Maria Farmer and her teenage sister Annie both say they were sexually abused by Epstein and Maxwell in 1996 – Maria Farmer at Epstein’s large estate in Ohio and Annie Farmer at his New Mexico ranch, the Times described. Annie Farmer also said she was abused by Epstein on a visit to New York.
Maria Farmer told the Times she contacted both the New York Police Department and the FBI in 1996 about alleged molestation by Maxwell and Epstein. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation, and the Times noted that the FBI has not acknowledged that she contacted them.
Maria Farmer insists they would have record of this contact, since she was contacted by the FBI in 2006 when she lived in North Carolina.
FBI spokeswoman Tina Jagerson referred the DCNF to the bureau’s Thursday press conference and did not address questions about the Farmer sisters or the length of time it took for Maxwell to be arrested. The FBI declined to comment further.
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
Maria Farmer said she met Epstein at an art show and that he soon after called her to hire her to acquire art for him and then to be the manager of a townhouse he was renovating, according to the Times. Maria Farmer, who was 25 at the time, said she frequently saw young women coming in and out and was told by Maxwell that they were attending modeling auditions for Victoria’s Secret lingerie.
“They had a driver, and he would be driving along, and Ghislaine would say, ‘Get that girl,’” Maria Farmer told the Times. “And they’d stop, and she’d run out and get the girl and talk to her.”
Maria Farmer said that she often heard that Bill Clinton was coming to visit Epstein’s home, though she never saw him. She also described an incident wherein President Donald Trump came to Epstein’s office and eyed her legs before Epstein told him “she’s not for you.”
Both Trump and Clinton have said they knew Epstein. Clinton has denied knowledge of any improper behavior and Trump has said he was “not a fan” of Epstein.
Maria Farmer’s sister, Annie Farmer, told the Times that on one occasion, Epstein rubbed her hand and her leg during a movie when she was 16. He allegedly repeated this behavior when she stayed with him on his New Mexico ranch, where Annie Farmer says Maxwell gave her a topless massage and pressured her to give Epstein a foot massage. The 16-year-old also said that Epstein cuddled with her in bed one morning.
These allegations match the descriptions of Maxwell’s alleged abuses to Victim 2, detailed in the indictment.
Maria Farmer also told the Times that she was asked to give Epstein a foot massage at his Ohio estate before Epstein and Maxwell allegedly assaulted her by violently groping her until she fled and barricaded herself in a different part of the house.
The sisters spoke with one another about what had transpired, they told the Times, and when Maria Farmer returned to New York, she said Maxwell called her and threatened to burn all her artwork, telling the young painter that her career was over.
Maria Farmer said she reported the Ohio assault and the threat about the art to a New York police precinct, and that NYPD officers took a report on the threats of the art — a copy of which was obtained by the New York Times. The NYPD also referred Farmer to the FBI about the assault, the publication reports.
Heavily redacted FBI records appear to show handwritten notes from November 2006 interviews with both Maria and Annie Farmer, the Times reported. These notes include details such as Maria Farmer’s visit to the NYPD and her FBI referral.
Maria Farmer told the Times she talked to an agent at the FBI for about half an hour, asking whether she should call law enforcement in the states where the incidents had occurred. She says she was told it was up to her.
She told the Times she attempted to contact authorities in at least one other place but made no progress. She does not remember which jurisdiction it was.
The sisters also told their story to Vanity Fair reporter Vicky Ward in 2003 for an article on Epstein’s finances and his interest in young girls, but the article did not make any mention of the Farmer sisters, the Times reported. Ward said she did not include the sisters as she had not known “quite whom to believe” and her editor Graydon Carter said that the sources did not meet the Vanity Fair’s editorial standards.
Ward has since suggested on Twitter that Carter was pressured by Epstein, and former Vanity Fair contributing editor John Connolly said he remembered Carter discussing Epstein attempting to influence the article, the Times reported.
Maria Farmer said that Maxwell threatened her when word somehow got out that she and her sister had done the detailed interview.
“Better be careful and watch your back,” Maxwell allegedly told her. “I know you go to the West Side Highway all the time. While you’re out there, just be really careful because there are a lot of ways to die there.”
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