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(FOX 2) - The first known victim of Jeffrey Epstein was a 13-year-old girl in Michigan in the 1990s, according to files released by the Department of Justice on Friday.
The revelation was among those in newly-available documents in connection with the late financier convicted of sex crimes.
More files are expected to be released in the coming months, the deputy attorney general said.
Epstein's first victim
According to a court document that was released by the justice department on Dec. 19, the first known victim of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell was a 13-year-old girl from California in 1994 who was at a summer camp in Michigan.
The camp was located in Interlochen, in Grand Traverse County, southwest of Traverse City.
The document says ‘Jane Doe’ was abused by Epstein and Maxwell for years, suffering trauma and distress.
Maxwell would help "supply" Epstein with young girls who were fatherless, like Doe, and came from struggling families. The files say Doe was the starting point that got the degenerative machine running to build his criminal enterprise and widen his network of victims.
Trump-Epstein Connection
In that same court document, it is revealed that Epstein took the then 14-year-old to Mar-a-Lago in 1994, where she was introduced to Donald Trump.
According to the files, Epstein elbowed Trump playfully asking him, "This is a good one, right?" with Trump smiling and nodding in agreement.
Doe said she felt uncomfortable, but she was too young to understand why.
The full list of released documents in this case can be found here.
The details in these files are disturbing, reader discretion is advised.
Portrait of American financier Jeffrey Epstein (left) and real estate developer Donald Trump as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida on February 22, 1997. (Photo by Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)
The 'Epstein Lodge' in Michigan
Epstein and Maxwell would visit Interlochen by flying their private plane to Traverse City. Flight logs dated they traveled to the area on Aug. 18, 1994, around the same time they met the first-known victim.
According to records, Epstein made a $25,000 donation to the Interlochen Center for the Arts in 1995. In a letter thanking Epstein for the donation, it is mentioned that Interlochen built ‘Epstein Lodge,’ their first scholarship lodge with premier guest accommodation and the first handicapped accessible facility.
"Most recently you gave your strong endorsement of Interlochen to the Ciralsky family as they investigated the Academy offerings for their daughter, Jessica," the Center said in a letter. "You have done much in the name of Interlochen. We thank you."
In another letter to Maxwell in 1994, it is mentioned that "the final week of Camp is August 14 through the 20th." That week, the lodge was reserved for Epstein.
"Please convey to Jeffrey how pleased we are to have such a facility on our campus. In fact, the President Elect will be staying in the lodge until his family's furniture arrives. It is a remarkable place. We are grateful," the letter said.
In July 2019, Interlochen would announce they had changed the name of Epstein's Lodge to the ‘Green Lake Lodge’ with all of Epstein's donor recognition being removed from the campus after his conviction.
"There is no record that Interlochen had any contact with him following his arrest in the Florida charges in 2007," the town said in response to the conviction. "We have no record of any complaint ever lodged about Mr. Epstein at Interlochen."
Catching up:
On Friday, the DOJ released more than 300,000 pages of unclassified Jeffrey Epstein case documents.
The files were released in compliance with a law passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said he expects "several hundred thousand" more to be released in coming weeks, prompting Democrats to threaten legal action for not releasing them in full by the Dec. 19 deadline.
Live updates: Epstein files released
The Justice Department has released more than 300,000 pages of unclassified Jeffrey Epstein case files.
The backstory:
Epstein, a wealthy financier, was known for socializing with celebrities, politicians, billionaires and the academic elite, including Trump and Clinton. He was first accused of sexually abusing underage girls in 2005, but Epstein made a secret deal with the U.S. attorney in Florida to avoid federal charges, enabling him to plead guilty in 2008 to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge. He served 13 months in a jail work-release program.
In 2019, Manhattan federal prosecutors revived the case and charged Epstein with sex trafficking, alleging he sexually abused dozens of girls. He killed himself in jail a month after his arrest.
The Source: A batch of released DOJ files was cited for this story.