How Epstein lured girls to his Zorro Ranch and kept authorities away
How Epstein lured girls to his Zorro Ranch and kept authorities away
For girls from financially struggling backgrounds seeking support for education or employment, a visit to Jeffrey Epstein’s 10,000-acre New Mexico ranch offered an experience akin to a luxury retreat. Transported from across the nation to the secluded estate, the girls engaged in horseback riding over a mesa adorned with prehistoric rock art and enjoyed activities like hiking, swimming, shopping, and movie nights. Being with a wealthy middle-aged man was initially unusual, but Epstein fostered a sense of admiration. He inquired about their aspirations, provided guidance, and gave them financial assistance.
However, the trips soon took a sinister turn. Epstein would touch their thighs, have them undress for massages, or use sex toys, leaving the girls bewildered and terrified. Isolated from home and surrounded by images of Epstein with celebrities and politicians, including those who had visited the ranch, the girls felt powerless against his actions. A 15-year-old victim, after being assaulted by Epstein, mounted an ATV the following day and raced with a fellow guest across the property, resulting in a crash into a tree.
“Don’t worry,” the other girl said, the victim later recalled.
By 2006, victims started to speak out, including both young women and adult women. At least 10 have reported that Epstein began grooming or abusing them as early as the mid-1990s, based on a NBC News analysis of court documents, legal cases, and other records. Half of those affected were teenagers during the time Epstein assaulted them. Despite ongoing efforts, the crimes at Zorro Ranch remain unexplained, a situation that puzzles victims, local authorities, and the public.
Years of missed opportunities enabled the ranch to evade scrutiny, preserving its mysteries and postponing justice for the girls Epstein recruited. These missed opportunities stretch over nearly two decades, since Epstein was first implicated for paying underage girls for sex in Florida and secured a lenient agreement that avoided significant prison time, as revealed in a review of federal and state records, police reports, and interviews with officials. The 2008 deal concluded a federal probe that uncovered one abuse allegation in New Mexico, a state with lenient sex offender laws that let Epstein bypass local registration requirements.
Human trafficking wasn’t classified as a crime in New Mexico until 2008, reducing legal avenues for prosecution. New Mexico’s first investigation into Epstein began in 2019, following the expiration of statute of limitations for certain offenses. The inquiry was closed at the request of federal agents in New York, who pursued a broader multistate case but overlooked the ranch’s role. Only recently, as new details from the Department of Justice’s recently disclosed Epstein files emerge — such as an unconfirmed report of two ‘foreign girls’ dying during sexual encounters and being secretly inter
