By: Meyer Wolfsheim

The Justice Department on Friday released a new tranche of records from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation that includes photographs appearing to show the late convicted sex trafficker kissing and holding young girls, as the New York Post reported.

The images were part of a massive, heavily redacted document dump released to comply with a congressionally mandated deadline, according to the Post. The photos were recovered from Epstein’s compound on Little St. James Island in the US Virgin Islands and had not previously been made public.

Several of the photographs were framed and displayed on an ornately carved wooden bookshelf inside Epstein’s island residence, the New York Post reported. The children shown in the images appear to be significantly younger than the teenage girls Epstein admitted to paying for sex as part of his 2008 federal plea deal.

According to the Post, one image shows Epstein wearing a robe while holding what appears to be a very young blond girl. Another photograph depicts him smiling while seated on a private jet with his arm around a young girl wearing a light blue sweatshirt. A third image shows Epstein kissing a redheaded girl whose hair appears to be styled in pigtails.

The New York Post also reported that another photograph included in the release shows a framed image hanging inside Epstein’s home of a naked infant bathing in a sink.

The identities of the children in the photographs have not been disclosed, and it is unclear whether they are confirmed victims of Epstein. In all of the images released by the Justice Department, the children’s faces were obscured with black boxes. The DOJ said the redactions were made to protect the identities of potential victims, according to the Post.

The photos were released alongside thousands of other records tied to Epstein, his properties, and individuals connected to him. As the New York Post reported, the document dump also confirmed that federal authorities were warned decades earlier about Epstein’s behavior.

Maria Farmer, a former Epstein employee, filed a complaint with the FBI on Sept. 3, 1996, warning that Epstein had an interest in child pornography, the Post reported. Farmer, who was hired to assist Epstein with art purchases, has said she attempted to alert law enforcement to Epstein’s conduct and that of his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The FBI did not publicly acknowledge her complaint until the latest release of documents.

Despite the warning, Epstein was not seriously prosecuted for years. He later received a controversial plea deal in 2008 and was arrested again in July 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Epstein died in August 2019 in a Manhattan federal jail while awaiting trial. His death was ruled an apparent suicide.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on federal charges including sex trafficking and conspiracy and is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence, as the New York Post reported.