She walked into an FBI office in 1996 and told them everything.
She gave names.
She described what she said had happened to her.
She warned them that other young women were at risk.
Then she waited.
Days turned into months.
Months became years.
No one came back.
Her name is Maria Farmer.
Long before the world knew who Jeffrey Epstein was, Maria says she tried to stop him.
She grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, with a passion for art and a dream that reached far beyond her hometown. That dream led her to New York City, where she earned a master's degree from the New York Academy of Art.
She was only 25 years old and believed her career was finally beginning.
At her graduate exhibition, a wealthy financier showed interest in her work.
He bought art.
He had influential connections.
He offered her a job at his Manhattan townhouse, where she helped organize artwork, answer phones, and assist with acquisitions.
For a young artist trying to establish herself in one of the world's most competitive art scenes, it seemed like an extraordinary opportunity.
Instead, she says, it became the beginning of a nightmare.
In the summer of 1996, while working at an estate in Ohio, Maria has said she was sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Terrified, she locked herself inside a room until ....
CONTINUED with comments