Playboy founder Hugh Hefner notified the FBI of Jeffrey Epstein and reported that a Playmate was sexually abused and trafficked by the late financier, according to new court documents reported this week.
The FBI reportedly ignored several of Hefner's tips about Epstein for 15 years, according to NewsNation.
Court records show that Audra Christiansen, a former Playboy Playmate, told Hefner in 2005 that she was an Epstein survivor and asked Hefner to contact the FBI. She suggested that authorities would be more likely to take his call over hers because of his status.
Hefner died in 2017 at age 91.
Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, in her Substack, reported on the legal complaint, which was filed by 34 Epstein survivors against the United States in the Southern District of Florida.
In the court document, the FBI agreed to assist Christiansen and investigate her claims. But Christiansen apparently did not hear from the FBI until October 2020.
"For about fifteen years, the FBI did not investigate Ms. Christiansen’s tips or follow up on her allegations," according to the court documents.
The documents revealed that Christiansen met the late convicted child sex offender, and "before she knew it she was naked and raped by Epstein" and "trafficked for 10 years."
"The complaint alleges the FBI did not investigate the model’s claim and by not doing 'violated mandatory policies and protocols requiring it to investigate claims, like Ms. Christiansen’s, of child sexual abuse and trafficking' and 'failing to investigate credible tips, such as Ms. Christiansen’s allegations, the FBI created a foreseeable zone of risk to future victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise, including Plaintiffs,'" NewsNation reported.
