Maria Farmer

UpdatedSeptember 4, 2026

ByEpsteinWiki

Snapshot

Maria Farmer is an American visual artist, Epstein survivor, and one of the earliest known people to report Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to law enforcement.

Farmer says she contacted the New York City Police Department and the FBI in 1996 after Epstein and Maxwell sexually assaulted her at a property associated with Leslie Wexner in Ohio. She also reported allegations involving stolen nude photographs of her underage sisters, threats made by Epstein, and Epstein’s interest in obtaining photographs of young girls.

For years, authorities did not publicly acknowledge that her 1996 FBI report existed. A subsequently released FBI record corroborated the existence and date of the complaint, making Farmer’s warning one of the most important documented missed opportunities in the Epstein case.

Farmer’s younger sister, Annie Farmer, was 16 when she was brought to Epstein’s New Mexico ranch. Annie later testified at Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal trial.

Early Life and Art Career

Maria Farmer studied at Santa Clara University before attending the New York Academy of Art. She completed her graduate studies at the Academy in 1995.

Farmer met Epstein and Maxwell through the New York art community. Epstein was a trustee and donor connected to the Academy, while Maxwell accompanied him at art events.

According to Farmer, she was encouraged to sell Epstein a painting at a reduced price after he and Maxwell attended her graduate exhibition. Epstein later offered Farmer employment involving art acquisition, reception work, and an art project.

Farmer’s experience demonstrates how Epstein used respected cultural institutions and apparently legitimate professional opportunities to gain access to talented young women.

Work for Jeffrey Epstein

Farmer has said that she worked at Epstein’s Manhattan residence during the mid-1990s. Her responsibilities reportedly included greeting visitors, receiving deliveries, and assisting with art-related matters.

While working at the residence, Farmer said she saw girls and young women entering the property. She also described being shown a surveillance room that could monitor private areas of the house.

These observations became significant because they placed Farmer inside Epstein’s environment years before the Palm Beach investigation began.

Farmer’s statements about individual visitors should be treated as eyewitness claims. A person’s presence at Epstein’s home does not, by itself, prove knowledge of or participation in criminal conduct.

The Ohio Assault Allegation

In the summer of 1996, Epstein arranged for Farmer to complete an art project at a residence in New Albany, Ohio, connected to Leslie Wexner.

Farmer stated in a sworn affidavit that Epstein and Maxwell sexually assaulted her at the property. She said she became frightened and attempted to leave but was prevented from doing so immediately.

Farmer has described contacting family members for help and ultimately leaving the property after her father arrived.

The assault allegation appeared in Farmer’s April 2019 sworn affidavit filed in connection with Giuffre v. Dershowitz. It was not separately adjudicated in a criminal trial.

Wexner has not been accused by Farmer of participating in the alleged assault. The significance of the property is that Epstein and Maxwell allegedly exercised control over Farmer while she was staying there.

Annie Farmer and the New Mexico Ranch

During the same period, Epstein invited Maria’s younger sister, Annie Farmer, to his Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. Annie was 16 years old.

Maria stated in her affidavit that she later learned Epstein and Maxwell had sexually abused Annie during that trip.

Annie subsequently gave her own account to investigators and testified under her real name during Maxwell’s 2021 federal criminal trial. She described Epstein touching her sexually during a massage and Maxwell touching her breasts while she was topless.

A later investigative record, EFTA01245688, contains an account consistent with abuse occurring in a massage room at the New Mexico property.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of federal offenses arising from her participation in Epstein’s sexual-abuse scheme. Annie was identified in the prosecution as Minor Victim 2.

The 1996 Report to Law Enforcement

Farmer has consistently stated that she contacted the NYPD in August 1996. Because the alleged assault occurred in Ohio and involved conduct crossing state lines, she was directed to the FBI.

An FBI record dated September 3, 1996, later confirmed that federal authorities received a complaint concerning Epstein.

The released record, identified in the Epstein files as EFTA00038276, documented allegations that:

Epstein had taken nude or partially nude photographs Farmer made of her sisters
The sisters were reportedly 12 and 16 years old
Epstein was believed to have sold or distributed the photographs
Epstein asked Farmer to photograph young girls at swimming pools
Epstein threatened to burn Farmer’s house if she disclosed what happened

The document categorized the matter as involving child pornography, now more accurately called child sexual abuse material.

The released form does not appear to document the full account Farmer says she gave the FBI, including her report of sexual assault. That discrepancy remains an important investigative question.

Why the FBI Record Matters

Before the 1996 record became public, Farmer’s account was sometimes treated as uncorroborated because the FBI had not produced the complaint.

The document materially changed that evidentiary picture. It confirmed that the FBI received an allegation concerning Epstein, underage sexual images, threats, and the requested photographing of young girls approximately nine years before Palm Beach police opened their investigation.

The record does not establish what investigative steps the FBI took afterward. Publicly available evidence has not shown a meaningful federal investigation resulting from the complaint.

This was not merely a vague warning about Epstein’s personality. It was a report containing allegations of potential crimes involving minors and an explicit threat against the person reporting him.

The Institutional Failure

Farmer’s 1996 complaint raises one of the most consequential questions in the Epstein case: what might have happened if authorities had acted?

The later Palm Beach investigation identified numerous girls who were recruited and sexually abused after Farmer’s report. Virginia Giuffre entered Epstein and Maxwell’s orbit several years after Farmer contacted law enforcement.

It cannot be known with certainty whether a proper investigation in 1996 would have prevented every later offense. It is reasonable, however, to conclude that the complaint presented authorities with an opportunity to investigate Epstein long before his 2008 Florida conviction.

The failure to meaningfully investigate the allegations may have allowed Epstein and Maxwell additional years to recruit and abuse victims.

The New York Academy of Art

Farmer has accused the New York Academy of Art of helping legitimize Epstein and failing to protect students from him.

She said Academy officials encouraged her relationship with Epstein and Maxwell and later treated her unfairly when she tried to describe what had happened.

In August 2020, the Academy issued an apology to Farmer. It acknowledged that its handling of her concerns had caused additional pain and said it regretted actions that made her feel blamed or disbelieved.

Epstein’s art-world relationships remain significant because they provided social credibility, introductions to young artists, and a respectable setting in which he could identify potential targets.

Epstein-data’s art-world investigation collects records concerning Farmer, the Academy, Epstein’s art relationships, and the institutional environment surrounding his access.

Going Public

Farmer spoke with journalist Vicky Ward in 2002 while Ward was preparing a profile of Epstein for Vanity Fair. The final article did not include the Farmer sisters’ assault allegations.

Farmer publicly identified herself in 2019. On April 16, she submitted a sworn affidavit supporting Virginia Giuffre’s federal defamation lawsuit against Alan Dershowitz.

The affidavit described:

Her introduction to Epstein and Maxwell through the art world
Her employment at Epstein’s Manhattan residence
Her alleged assault in Ohio
Annie Farmer’s alleged abuse in New Mexico
Her reports to the NYPD and FBI
Young girls she observed around Epstein
Visitors she remembered seeing at Epstein’s residence

Farmer did not claim that every person she saw at the residence participated in abuse.

Farmer’s Importance to the Epstein Investigation

Farmer is not simply a person who disclosed an allegation after Epstein’s crimes became widely known.

She reported Epstein in 1996.

Her account predates the Palm Beach investigation, Epstein’s Florida non-prosecution agreement, his 2008 conviction, the Miami Herald’s Perversion of Justice investigation, and the 2019 federal prosecution.

Farmer also identified several features of Epstein’s operation that appeared in later survivor accounts:

Professional opportunities used to establish trust
Access to girls through respected institutions
Maxwell’s active participation
Massage as a pathway to sexual abuse
Surveillance inside Epstein’s properties
Threats and intimidation
Efforts to discredit survivors
The involvement of multiple properties across state lines

Evidence Timeline

Date	Event	Evidentiary status
1995	Farmer meets Epstein and Maxwell through the New York art community	Supported by Farmer’s sworn account and institutional history
1996	Farmer works for Epstein and completes an art project in Ohio	Supported by Farmer’s affidavit and reporting
Summer 1996	Farmer says Epstein and Maxwell sexually assault her in Ohio	Sworn survivor allegation
Summer 1996	Annie Farmer visits Epstein’s New Mexico ranch	Supported by Annie’s testimony and investigative records
August 1996	Maria says she contacts the NYPD	Survivor account
September 3, 1996	FBI records a complaint concerning Epstein, underage photographs, threats, and requests for photographs of young girls	Confirmed by released FBI record
2002	Maria and Annie speak with journalist Vicky Ward	Confirmed through subsequent reporting
April 16, 2019	Maria files a sworn federal affidavit	Court record
2020	New York Academy of Art apologizes to Farmer	Institutional statement
2021	Annie testifies at Maxwell’s criminal trial	Federal trial record
2025	The 1996 FBI complaint becomes publicly available	Released government record

What Is Confirmed and What Remains Alleged

Confirmed by records

Farmer attended the New York Academy of Art.
She knew and worked for Epstein.
She submitted a sworn affidavit in 2019.
The FBI received a complaint concerning Epstein in September 1996.
The complaint involved underage photographs, alleged distribution, threats, and Epstein’s request for photographs of young girls.
Annie Farmer testified at Maxwell’s federal trial.
Maxwell was convicted.
The New York Academy of Art apologized to Farmer.

Supported by sworn firsthand testimony

Epstein and Maxwell sexually assaulted Maria Farmer in Ohio.
Farmer observed young girls entering Epstein’s Manhattan residence.
Epstein maintained surveillance equipment inside the residence.
Farmer reported more information to authorities than appears in the released FBI form.
Epstein and Maxwell threatened or intimidated her after she attempted to expose them.

Not established by Farmer’s account alone

That every visitor Farmer saw at Epstein’s residence knew about his crimes
That Leslie Wexner knew an assault allegedly occurred at the Ohio property
Why the FBI failed to pursue the 1996 complaint
Whether additional records from Farmer’s original report remain withheld

Evidence Assessment

Grade A

The existence of the September 1996 FBI complaint, Farmer’s employment relationship with Epstein, her 2019 affidavit, Annie Farmer’s trial testimony, and Maxwell’s conviction are supported by government or court records.

Grade B

Farmer’s descriptions of the Ohio assault, surveillance system, threats, and events inside Epstein’s home are detailed firsthand statements made under oath or in recorded interviews.

Unresolved

The full scope of the information Farmer provided in 1996, the FBI’s response, and whether additional investigative records remain undisclosed require further examination.

Sources

PostedFebruary 8, 2025