In the summer of 1996, artist Maria Farmer stood frozen in Jeffrey Epstein’s sprawling Ohio mansion, realizing every room was wired with hidden cameras—watching her, watching her 25-year-old sister Annie, who had just been sexually assaulted by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell while Maria was drugged and raped in another wing.
Maria became the first person to report Epstein to the FBI that year, detailing the horror in frantic phone calls and statements that vanished into silence for decades. Her sister’s terrified account of being trapped, assaulted, and photographed only deepened the nightmare. Both women say they begged for help—yet authorities did nothing, allowing Epstein’s reign of terror to continue unchecked for another 23 years.
Their raw, gut-wrenching testimony—now unsealed in court documents—exposes not just Epstein’s crimes, but the deafening institutional indifference that let the cries of the first victims echo unanswered.
What other warnings were buried? Who else was ignored?
In the summer of 1996, artist Maria Farmer stood frozen in Jeffrey Epstein’s sprawling guest house on the grounds of billionaire Les Wexner’s estate in New Albany, Ohio, a 10,600-square-foot mansion where she had been invited to work as an artist-in-residence. Every room, she later alleged, felt watched—part of a broader pattern of surveillance Epstein employed across his properties, including hidden cameras monitoring private spaces like beds and bathrooms, as she described in interviews and affidavits regarding his New York townhouse.
There, in late July or early August, the nightmare unfolded: Maria was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in one wing, while her 25-year-old sister, Annie Farmer—who had been groomed separately—was sexually assaulted at Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico earlier that spring. Annie, then 16, testified in Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 trial that Maxwell gave her an inappropriate topless massage, exposing and rubbing her breasts, while Epstein groped her, harassed her, and crawled into bed to “cuddle,” pressing his body against hers without consent. Maria discovered her hidden lockbox in the Ohio basement pried open—nude photographs she had taken of her underage sisters (aged 12 and 16) for personal artwork stolen, images Epstein allegedly transported and may have intended to exploit or sell.
Shaken and terrified, Maria became the first known person to report Epstein to authorities that year. On August 26, 1996, she contacted the New York City Police Department and the FBI, detailing the assaults, threats (including warnings that her house would be burned if she spoke out), and concerns over child pornography involving her sisters’ stolen photos. An FBI report stamped September 3, 1996—finally released in the December 2025 tranche under the Epstein Files Transparency Act—confirmed the complaint, describing it as related to “child pornography,” with Epstein accused of stealing and potentially distributing the images. Yet authorities took no meaningful action; the FBI allegedly hung up on her mid-call, and no investigation followed for nearly a decade.
Maria and Annie begged for help, but their cries echoed into institutional silence. The inaction allowed Epstein’s trafficking network to expand unchecked for another 23 years, until his 2008 plea deal and 2019 federal charges. Their raw, gut-wrenching testimony—detailed in sworn affidavits, depositions, and Annie’s trial appearance—exposes not just Epstein’s predatory crimes but the deafening indifference that buried early warnings.
What other warnings were buried? Who else was ignored? Maria later described seeing young girls in school uniforms at Epstein’s properties and extensive surveillance systems recording private moments. The 1996 report, vindicating the sisters after decades of doubt, highlights systemic failures: lawyers and advocates argue that prompt investigation could have spared hundreds, perhaps over a thousand, victims. As more files surface amid ongoing scrutiny, the Farmers’ story stands as a haunting indictment of missed opportunities—early alarms silenced, allowing horror to persist in the shadows of power and privilege.
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