Epstein victims’ suit against FBI poised to survive dismissal, for now

Over 30 Epstein survivors are attempting to move forward with their case against the Justice Department while jurisdiction issues slow it down.(CN) — A lawsuit filed by Epstein victims against the FBI should be allowed to proceed, a magistrate judge recommended Tuesday.U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryon M. McCabe encouraged the Florida federal court in his 30-page report to allow claims against the FBI to continue despite the statute of limitations having expired before the suit was filed.Court jurisdiction is a key struggle in the case, as the plaintiffs have claimed FBI agents in New York, Florida and other unnamed states negligently failed to investigate Jeffrey Epstein despite receiving numerous tips.The behavior of employees should be analyzed on a state-by-state basis, McCabe said in his report.“Plaintiffs allege that FBI agents created a foreseeable zone of risk to future Epstein victims, including themselves, by misleading victims and failing to exercise due care in the Florida investigation. Construing these allegations in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, the court finds the allegations sufficient to survive dismissal and state a plausible common law duty of care under Florida’s voluntary undertaking and zone-of-risk doctrines,” McCabe said.He also expressed skepticism that the victims will be able to prove causation, which is required to win a negligence claim under New York and Florida law, but is normally reserved for a jury to decide.“Even if FBI agents had taken all of the investigative steps that plaintiffs believe they should have taken, none of those steps would have guaranteed that prosecutors would have brought criminal charges or that a judge would have imposed a prison sentence upon Epstein before he committed further crimes against plaintiffs,” McCabe added.The plaintiffs have plausibly argued that they didn’t discover the extent of the government’s actions until after the statute of limitations expired, McCabe said, recommending the case survive the government’s current attempt to dismiss it.McCabe suggested that the the court conduct a 90-day discovery process to determine the content of FBI policies concerning sexual abuse and child sexual abuse materials. After that, the government can then resubmit a request to dismiss the case, McCabe advised.McCabe’s report will go to U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz, a Joe Biden appointee currently presiding over the case. Leibowitz may choose to follow McCabe’s recommendations and conduct additional discovery in the case to determine that it is before the correct court. Discovery in the case has thus far been halted.The plaintiffs — 32 of which used the pseudonym Jane Doe to protect their identities, and two who identified themselves — first sued as a group of eight in Washington D.C. in 2024. The failure to act on the tips constitutes negligence, the women argue, as the FBI and Department of Justice were obligated to conduct a thorough investigation and exhaust all leads.In 1996, FBI agents began receiving credible tips that Epstein was trafficking young women and underage girls, but failed to interview victims, respond to tips or arrest him, the women said.That year, Maria Farmer and her sister Annie reported to the New York Police Department and the FBI that they, along with other minors and vulnerable young women, had been sexually abused by Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.The FBI continued to receive reports of sexual abuse, trafficking and human rights violations from 1996 to 2005, but didn’t open an investigation until July 2006, when Florida’s Palm Beach Police Department alerted the FBI of likely child prostitution at Epstein’s mansion.The FBI didn’t investigate tips of suspicious banking activity from financial institutions — including payments to underage girls — ignored reports of child sex trafficking and tips that Epstein had child sexual assault material in his possession, the women claim.The plaintiffs argue that if the FBI agents had intervened based on the information they were given, Epstein would not have been able to continue committing crimes.Their claim isn’t time-barred, the plaintiffs argued, because the government has been “so persistent in its willful suppression” that culpability has only recently been revealed to the victims through the Epstein Files Transparency Act and through congressional hearings.The case should be dismissed, the government argued, because the Federal Tort Claims Act doesn’t waive sovereign immunity for the plaintiffs’ negligence claims.It claims the court doesn’t have jurisdiction because the tort act excludes discretionary decisions on behalf of a federal agency, and liability can’t be triggered unless the employee’s behavior would be “independently tortious” against a private person. The victims have also exceeded the statute of limitations, it said.A representative for the Justice Department declined to comment.Categories / Courts, NationalSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads