The women did not speak out about their abuse for years because, they say, Epstein used money and threats to keep them quiet. If they say, he warned of financial, reputational or physical damage.
But eventually, some women spoke to law enforcement. In 2006, Farmer told an FBI agent investigating allegations against Epstein in Florida about his trip to New Mexico with Epstein and Maxwell a decade earlier. An FBI agent, who was based in Florida, wrote a report based on the interview.
The FBI continued to “develop witnesses and victims from across the United States,” according to an agency memo. That includes at least one interview with an Epstein associate in New Mexico in early 2007.
But the information about Zorro Ranch went nowhere: After two years of investigation and plea negotiations, Alex Acosta, then the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, agreed in 2008 that Epstein would plead guilty to charges and avoid federal prosecution, in a deal that was later criticized by a Justice Department watchdog as showing “bad judgment.” (Acosta said prosecutors chose the plea deal because they were concerned it would be difficult to get a conviction in the case.)
An investigation into a possible crime in New Mexico ended.
In 2009, Epstein completed his prison sentence in Florida and, as part of his plea agreement there, began the process of registering as a sex offender in the areas where he lives. In New Mexico, the state Department of Public Safety notified Epstein by letter that he needed to register with the local sheriff.
But a month later, after an investigator met with Epstein at his farm, the state said in a second letter that he didn’t have to register. Because Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to indecency with a victim over the age of 16, which is the age of consent in New Mexico, authorities determined he did not commit a child sex offense that requires registration, according to a later Justice Department review. Epstein also had a sexual relationship with the 14-year-old victim, according to a report her mother made to police in Palm Beach, Florida, but that was not included in the plea agreement and therefore did not matter in the New Mexico registry.
That meant Epstein didn’t have to check with New Mexico police and his name was kept off the online list. A Justice Department review later determined that Epstein’s lawyers “thoroughly researched” how the deal would affect Epstein’s sex offender registry in other states, but prosecutors “failed to anticipate” that Epstein would escape the sex offender registry in New Mexico.
Epstein continued to host scientists, celebrities and tech executives at his farm – and continued to produce at least one victim. A woman who identified herself as Priscilla Doe said years ago in her lawsuit that Epstein took her to New Mexico repeatedly from 2007 to 2010, using wealth and threats to force her to sleep with him and his friends.
Priscilla Doe said that when she met Epstein in New York, he was a poor ballet dancer in his early 20s who needed money to pay his mother’s rent. Epstein repeatedly told her “that her opportunities are endless as long as she does what he says but that he can take everything away from her if she doesn’t,” according to her suit.
Epstein’s land lease shows how little scrutiny he received in New Mexico, even after his infamy. State officials have broad discretion in deciding who will lease public lands, but for decades they renewed Epstein’s 1,200-acre lease without complaint, or his stated purpose, to graze cattle, was later deemed questionable by federal authorities.
