Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich’ revisits the case of the pedophile and sex trafficking ring that came to the fore with the allegations made against Jeffrey Epstein by several women. The documentary goes back to the beginning, exploring the nature of Epstein’s wealth and his reach, with friends in some pretty high places, and how a case reported in 1996 eventually caused a Pandora’s box of his crimes to unravel in front of the world. This case was reported by Maria Farmer, who, along with her sister, Annie Farmer, is one of the survivors of Epstein’s sexual abuse.
Maria Farmer Continues to Fight for the Survivors
Now in her 50s, Maria Farmer has not given up her fight against the injustice perpetrated against her, her sister, and many other women who were abused by Jeffrey Epstein. While her fight started in 1996 when she reported the case against Epstein to the local police and then to the FBI, it has now morphed into the demand for accountability by the systems that are supposed to listen to and protect victims. In 2019, she had filed a lawsuit against Epstein’s estate, but it was withdrawn in 2020 as part of a deal where she and her sister, Annie, were to receive restitution from the victims’ compensation fund, which was to be paid by Epstein’s estate, following his reported death by suicide in August 2019.
One of the major issues that Maria had with the system, particularly the FBI, was that her first complaint hadn’t been taken seriously. She believes that if the authorities had acted back then, many young girls could have been spared the trauma they suffered at Epstein’s hands. In 2023, she publicly called out the agency, demanding accountability for why they did not properly investigate her claims back then. Expressing her disappointment at them for bending in favour of Epstein’s “wealth and power,” she expressed her desire to expose “these systemic failures within our government.”
She took it a step further in May 2025, when she filed a lawsuit against the federal government for its failure to protect her, her sister, and all the other young women who were abused by Epstein and his partner-in-crime, Ghislaine Maxwell. According to the lawsuit, the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and the FBI have been accused of negligence towards Maria and the other women and, additionally, causing emotional distress to them. She wishes for them to “address their grotesque failures regarding Jeffrey Epstein, and to finally deliver the transparency and accountability that the victims and the American public deserve.”
Apart from the legal actions, Maria has been a constant presence in the public sphere to talk about Epstein’s crimes and the stories of the survivors. She has regularly appeared on news channels and other forms of media to talk about her story while also demanding much-needed action from the government authorities. For her, the main goal now is to “see those girls, those women (victimized by Epstein) brought justice before I die.”
Maria Farmer Has Gone Back to Painting
While Maria Farmer’s journey as a survivor and a fighter has been talked about a lot, her personal journey has been rather tumultuous, too. In 2019, she discovered that she had a rare brain tumor, for which she went through several rounds of radiation and surgery. By the time she recovered, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2020. Virginia Giuffre came forward to help her with her medical bills. She raised $100,000 through a GoFundMe page to help pay her bills. Maria’s health struggles were one of the reasons why she couldn’t testify in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial. However, she was happy to hear that the abuser had been convicted of her crimes.
A few years back, Maria revealed that she’s working on a memoir where she will detail everything from her early years to her meeting with Epstein and Maxwell, the abuse, the experience with the FBI, and her health struggles. Another thing that she turned to process her trauma is painting. She added that since the abuse, she had stopped painting. However, once she returned to it, she decided to use it as a medium to tell her story as well as that of other women. In 2020, she created a series called ‘The Survivor’s Project,’ which was exhibited at Gavlak Gallery in LA, wherein she painted the portraits of each survivor who came forward about Epstein. However, when it came to her own portrait, she kept a blank sheet of paper.
She said that this was because she “felt like a blank sheet of paper for 24 years … I feel invisible,” which is also how the government authorities made her feel. In the same vein, she has also painted portraits of Epstein and the people who enabled him all these years, but instead of presenting them as humans, she has painted them as reptiles. Apart from this, she likes to spend her personal time with family and friends, sometimes sketching them. She also harbors a particular love for dogs, having raised a few of her own in the past.
Annie Farmer is Committed to Aiding the Survivors of Trauma
Much like her elder sister, Maria, Annie Farmer has also dedicated her life to helping trauma survivors. She is a licensed psychologist and works as a therapist in Austin, Texas. She runs her own practice, Farmer Psychological Services, and is also the co-founder of Pivot Psychology Austin. Her focus is primarily on helping people who have survived abuse in one way or another. The public knowledge surrounding her experience with Epstein and Maxwell led people with similar traumas to reach out to her, but she has also helped people with PTSD, depression, and anxiety, while also providing couples therapy. While she keeps her private life out of public scrutiny, she has regularly appeared on news channels, talk shows, and podcasts to talk about her story as a survivor as well as her work as a therapist to help other survivors.
While Epstein’s case never got to trial, Annie did face him during his bail hearing. She was glad to have the chance to witness some semblance of accountability and of the justice system in motion, even though this process could never reach completion because of Epstein’s death in August 2019. In 2021, she appeared as a witness to testify against Maxwell in her trial. While Maxwell was convicted of her crimes, Annie believes there is still a lot about the case that hasn’t come out yet. She believes that Epstein’s death may have prevented the entire picture, particularly about the people associated with him, from coming out. However, she wishes that the government would release complete information related to the case, including the names of the people who participated in the pattern of sexual abuse.
Annie also believes that the reporting of the case has sensationalised Epstein and Maxwell, but more important questions, especially concerning the authorities’ response and handling of Epstein’s case in prior circumstances, need to be looked at more closely. She believes that the politicisation of the case has taken the focus away from the survivors, with the spotlight falling on the abusers rather than their crime, and getting justice for the survivors. Calling it an “emotional rollercoaster for the people involved,” she hopes that the survivors get a sense of closure someday, though there are things that make “the criminal justice system feel hollow.” Still, this will not stop her from fighting for truth and justice.
Read More: Shawna Rivera: What Happened to Jeffrey Epstein’s Abuse Survivor?
