Maria Farmer

Maria Kristine Farmer (born 1969 or 1970) is an American visual artist. She came to media attention in 2019 after she told reporters that in 1996, at the age of 26, she provided the first criminal complaint to the FBI about the conduct of financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In 2002, Farmer described her and her sister's experiences with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to a journalist at Vanity Fair. However, the publication elected not to include the allegation in the article, citing legal concerns. She has two younger brothers and two younger sisters. From an early age, she had a set intention to become an artist. She relocated to New York City in 1993 to study at the New York Academy of Art, and earned her master's degree in 1995. Farmer attended a post-graduate workshop at the Santa Fe Art Institute in 1995. According to Farmer, she had already sold her painting for $12,000 to a German buyer, however Epstein wanted to buy it at the reception for half price, and Guggenheim urged Farmer to cut him a deal, saying "you are going to make them happy. Do you understand?".

In the summer of 1995, Farmer was one of four artists chosen to attend an NYAA all-expenses-paid trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2019, Farmer and another artist alleged that during the 1995 trip, a dinner party was hosted by Epstein, Maxwell and Eileen Guggenheim at Epstein's home on Zorro Ranch, and that Epstein tested artists with unusual tasks and promised to reward one with a commission.

In protest, several female board members resigned, and some students and alumni criticized the investigation as victim blaming. In August 2020, the NYAA issued a "profound apology" to Farmer.

Epstein hired Farmer to work as an art advisor and property manager for his New York residence. She oversaw the acquisition of artwork by Chuck Bowdish and Damian Loeb for Epstein's collection. Farmer alleged seeing lawyer Alan Dershowitz regularly visiting Epstein's New York home. Dershowitz contends that Farmer "probably lied" about seeing him, stating that he had not yet met Epstein at that time.

Wexner artist residency and alleged assault In the summer of 1996, Farmer was commissioned to create two large-scale paintings for the film set of As Good as It Gets. At the time, she was living in a small apartment in Greenwich Village. at a (10,600 sq. ft.) guest home on Les Wexner's property in New Albany, Ohio. In May 1996, Farmer traveled to the Wexner property in Ohio. and reached out to authorities. Farmer was eventually able to depart the scene when her father arrived, after driving from Kentucky to Ohio, to pick her up.

Farmer had called the Sixth Precinct of the New York City Police Department in August 1996. alleging that authorities took no action. In 2002, Farmer, her sister, and her mother shared their stories with journalist Vicky Ward, then at Vanity Fair, who was writing a profile on Epstein. In 2019, Carter alleged that he had been pressured by Epstein at the time of publication to omit mention of the Farmer sisters;

In 2019, art collector Stuart Pivar, She stated: "I was terrified of Maxwell and Epstein and I moved a number of times to try to hide from them."

In 2006, Maria Farmer was a contributing artist in the New York Academy of Art "Take Home a Nude" exhibition.

According to Farmer, in 2006 the FBI came to her door to question her just before Epstein's arrest for his first criminal prosecution, but she says little came of the matter. In November 2019, Farmer was also interviewed by Anthony Mason for CBS This Morning.

ABC News reported that Farmer and her younger sister Annie Farmer shared similarities with Chauntae Davies and her younger sister Teala Davies in that Epstein manipulated the trust within both family groups to further his criminal interest in abusing young girls.

In late 2019 and early 2020, five victims in the Ohio State University abuse scandal called on state and federal officials to conduct further inquiry into Farmer's allegations of sexual assault at the Wexner property.

Farmer appeared in a four-part Netflix series, released in May 2020, Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, directed by Lisa Bryant and based on the earlier book of the same name by James Patterson.

Later artwork In late 2019, Farmer resumed creating artwork after more than twenty years away from her art practice. In The Setiles, Kate Briquelet of the Daily Beast described Farmer's depiction of some of Epstein's associates as "murderous lizard people" whereas some of the "victims' lawyers who fought for justice" were illustrated as cherubs.

In May 2025, Farmer filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the federal government accusing the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney's Offices, and the FBI of negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress for failing to protect her and other victims of Epstein.

Personal life After being diagnosed with a brain tumor and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, she was receiving treatment for cancer in May 2020.