US

NYPD Silent On Whether NYPD Took Action On A Maxwell Accuser’s 1996 Complaint

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The New York Police Department will not address whether it took action on a 1996 complaint filed against convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-lover and cohort, Ghislaine Maxwell.

In a August 2019 interview with The New York Times, painter Maria Farmer said she told the FBI and the New York City Police Department in 1996 that Epstein and Maxwell had sexually molested both her and her sister. She also said that Maxwell had subsequently threatened to destroy Farmer’s artwork when Farmer fled after she was allegedly abused.

The NYPD referred her to the FBI regarding her allegations of assault, Farmer said, but took a report on Maxwell’s alleged threats.

Sergeant Mary Frances O’Donnell, a spokeswoman for the NYPD’s Office of the Deputy Commissioner, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an email that Farmer’s complaint was filed for aggravated harassment and not for assault.

The DCNF repeatedly asked whether the NYPD took any action on Farmer’s complaint, but the department has not responded.

The complaint contained the following information, according to O’Donnell: “On Thursday, July 11, 1996, the victim stated the perp called her and threatened to burn her paintings and send her polaroids of the burnt paintings.”

The DCNF filed a request for Farmer’s complaint under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, but it has not yet been fulfilled.

Former New York Police Department Commissioner Howard Safir, who served as police commissioner beginning during the period when Farmer’s report was filed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani appointed Safir as NYPD commissioner April 15, 1996.

Farmer has also said that she told the FBI about her allegations that Epstein and Maxwell sexually assaulted her. The DCNF reached out to the FBI on numerous occasions regarding this allegation, but the FBI repeatedly declined to comment and referred the DCNF to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York (SDNY).

SDNY also repeatedly declined to comment on this matter to the DCNF beyond an emailed statement from spokesman Nicholas Biase: “We bring criminal cases when they are ready to be brought and when we are confident we can prove them beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Farmer did not return numerous requests for comment from the DCNF.