How Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell found girls to abuse
New court documents from the Ghislaine Maxwell trial shed new light on Jeffrey Epstein’s victim profile. Turns out, Epstein had standards he was looking for in his victims and instructed girls working for him on which types of girls they could and couldn’t recruit for him.
These documents come from a three-way conversation between Virginia Roberts-Guiffre and her attorneys where Roberts-Guiffre described how she was compelled by Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell to select new victims for their sex trafficking pyramid scheme.
The conversation helps us paint a bigger picture of how Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell found the girls they abused.
The Farmer sisters
Some of Jeffrey Epstein’s earliest victims were Annie and Maria Farmer. Maria was a student at New York University when Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell approached her. Since Epstein and Maxwell were big donors, Farmer was pressured into selling her paintings to them at a discount by an art professor.
According to Filthy Rich: The Jeffrey Epstein Story, Farmer agreed to sell him the paintings. Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell promised to “make it worth her while.” They hired her as a receptionist. While it seemed innocent enough, Maria Farmer soon found herself being pressured into sex acts with Epstein & Maxwell.
Soon, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell approached her sister, Annie about a study abroad opportunity. Thinking it was only a generous offer, Annie went to New Mexico for what she thought was an orientation. After being assaulted by Epstein, Annie Farmer was at a loss. It would be years before the sisters shared their experiences & spoke out.
Going to the FBI & Vanity Fair
After sharing their experiences with each other, Maria and Annie Farmer went to the FBI. Nothing came of their report until years later when Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges in Florida. While they also reported Ghislaine Maxwell, she wasn’t arrested until 2019.
A Vanity Fair reporter, Vicky Ward, found their story when she was writing a society piece about Jeffrey Epstein in 2002. The reporter received threats until the allegations against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were removed from her story. Epstein claimed that he knew a lot of people and could damage her career and personal life.
The pyramid scheme
Jeffrey Epstein was a master at building connections. His finesse at networking was apparent in the massive web of rich & powerful people he maintained over the years. It was also how he and Ghislaine Maxwell ensnared girls into sex trafficking.
Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell wouldn’t recruit girls themselves after they had some working for them. Rather, receptionists and some of Epstein’s first victims would scout new victims in a pyramid scheme.
According to the documentary Filthy Rich, Jeffrey Epstein would pay the girls $200 for a “massage,” where he would often sexually assault the victims. If a girl brought other girls in, she would receive $200 for every girl she brought to him. Sometimes, Ghislaine Maxwell would handle paying the girls.
Stringent parameters
According to Virginia Roberts-Guiffre, the girls were given specific instructions on what types of girls to recruit. In an unveiled conversation with her lawyers, Roberts-Guiffre stated that Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell told her to look for “good-looking girls with fun personalities.”
They also could not be black, per Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell. If they weren’t white, they had to have “exotic beauty.” Those were the only parameters given. However, both Epstein & Maxwell encouraged their victims to bring friends, helping them expand their pyramid scheme.
How come no one caught on sooner?
From the documentary Filthy Rich, Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell targeted students, recent graduates, and girls from poor or broken homes. These girls were less likely to come forward due to their economic circumstances. Due to Epstein’s enormous wealth & connections, if they spoke up, it would be their word against Epstein’s.
A parent of one of the victims called the Florida police when she discovered the pyramid scheme. While they launched an investigation that implicated Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, the only result was Epstein pleading guilty to soliciting a prostitute and soliciting a minor.
Justice wouldn’t be pursued again until The Miami Herald ran a story about the lack of accountability in the Jeffrey Epstein case. After pressure from victims and the #MeToo movement, Epstein was arrested again. It was also found that the previous ruling violated the victims’ rights. Ghislaine Maxwell was investigated and arrested in 2019.
