Epstein files validate early FBI complaint by survivor, but leave others searching for answers

The U.S. Justice Department’s partial release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein has confirmed that federal authorities received a detailed criminal complaint in 1996, lending long-sought validation to one survivor who reported him decades ago. While the disclosure has been described by her supporters as a moment of vindication, other survivors say the release has raised fresh questions about why earlier warnings did not stop the abuse.

The newly released documents form part of a limited public rollout of records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress last month. Among them is an FBI record describing a complaint filed in the mid-1990s alleging child exploitation and threats by Epstein, years before he was charged by state and federal prosecutors.

A complaint from the 1990s comes to light

An FBI document dated September 3, 1996, describes a criminal complaint involving child pornography allegations against Epstein. The complainant’s name is redacted, but Maria Farmer’s attorney, Jennifer Freeman, confirmed to CNN that the report refers to Farmer, who has long said she contacted authorities in the 1990s after being abused by Epstein.

The document states that the woman identified herself as a professional artist and said she had taken photographs of her underage sisters for her own artwork. According to the FBI summary, Epstein allegedly stole the photographs and negatives and was believed to have attempted to sell them. The record also notes that Epstein had asked the complainant to take photographs of young girls at swimming pools and threatened to burn her house down if she spoke publicly about the images.

For Farmer and her family, the appearance of the document in official files represents confirmation of claims they have repeated for years — that law enforcement had specific information about Epstein long before his later prosecutions.

Epstein files release and unanswered law enforcement actions

Despite the document’s confirmation that a complaint existed, the files do not explain how authorities responded at the time. Freeman said she is now searching for records showing what investigative steps, if any, were taken after the FBI received the report.

“Why didn’t they act to stop this?” Freeman wrote in an email to CNN, adding that the absence of clear answers remains deeply troubling. CNN has contacted the FBI for comment on the handling of the complaint.

The lack of documentation detailing follow-up action has reinforced long-standing criticism from survivors that early warnings were not pursued aggressively, allowing Epstein’s abuse to continue for years.

Frustration with the public release system

While Farmer’s complaint surfaced quickly, other survivors say they have been unable to locate records related to their own cases within the Justice Department’s newly launched online “Epstein Library.”

Several people close to the survivor community told CNN that the database has been difficult to navigate, limiting their ability to search for victim statements or correspondence with investigators. The disappointment has been acute for survivors who waited roughly 30 days after the passage of the transparency law, hoping the release would finally provide official acknowledgment of their experiences.

Epstein survivor Jess Michaels said she spent hours searching for her victim impact statement and records of communications after she contacted an FBI tip line.

“I can’t find any of those,” Michaels told CNN. “Is this the best that the government can do? Even an act of Congress isn’t getting us justice.”

A record of early awareness

The 1996 complaint underscores that Epstein had attracted the attention of federal law enforcement well before he was later charged in Florida in the mid-2000s and federally in New York more than a decade after that. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, a death ruled a suicide.

In a statement released through her legal team, Maria Farmer said the FBI had “failed” her and other victims by not acting decisively after receiving early reports.

Her sister, Annie Farmer, has also said she was abused as a teenager by Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Speaking emotionally in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Annie Farmer said seeing the complaint in official records was overwhelming.

“To know that they had this document this entire time — and how many people were harmed after that date?” she said. “We’ve been saying it over and over, but to see it in black and white that way has been very emotional.”

Ongoing legal and historical context

Annie Farmer later became the final witness to testify at Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial, where prosecutors argued that Maxwell helped recruit and groom underage girls for Epstein. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence.

The Justice Department has said additional Epstein-related records may be reviewed for future release, though it has emphasized that some material remains sealed to protect victims’ privacy or because of legal restrictions.

For many survivors, the partial disclosure has reinforced a sense of uneven accountability — offering validation in some cases while leaving broader questions unresolved. Advocates say the significance of the files lies not only in what they confirm, but in what they still fail to explain about how early warnings were handled.

As survivors continue to search the newly released archive, calls are growing for clearer answers about institutional responsibility and whether further transparency could shed light on decades-old decisions that had lasting consequences.