A woman who once worked for Jeffrey Epstein filed a complaint to the F.B.I. about his interest in “child pornography” in 1996, about a decade before investigators began scrutinizing his predatory behavior.

The woman, Maria Farmer, has for years said that she had called federal investigators in the summer of 1996, but the F.B.I. had never publicly acknowledged her original report, even to Ms. Farmer. Some people following the Epstein case had accused her of inventing the story. After the release of thousands of Epstein files on Friday, The New York Times contacted Ms. Farmer about a report stamped with the date of Sept. 3, 1996. She broke down in tears.

“I’ve waited 30 years,” she said. “I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”

Ms. Farmer said she was grateful to be “vindicated” but heartbroken that the F.B.I. did not take steps to stop Mr. Epstein until years after her report.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/us/epstein-fbi-complaint-1996-maria-farmer.html