Epstein's Ranch Had Computer Rooms 'The Size of Houses' to Spy on Guests, Claims Alleged Victim

Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged with sexual abuse after 52-year-old Maria Farmer filed a sworn affidavit in a federal court in New York, alleging that she and her 15-year-old sister had been sexually assaulted by the billionaire in 1996. He was found dead in his prison cell in 2019 in an apparent suicide.

One of the alleged victims of convicted pedophile Epstein has claimed that the late tycoon’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico had three computer rooms "the size of houses" created specifically to spy on guests, reports The Sun.

In this Thursday, July 2, 2020, file photo, Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, gestures as she speaks during a news conference to announce charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein, in New York

© AP Photo / John Minchillo

Ex-employee Maria Farmer, known for filing the first criminal complaint to the police in 1996 against the convicted sex offender, has been cited by the outlet as alleging that hidden cameras captured the Duke of York's purported seven-day stay at Epstein's 33,339 sq ft desert estate.

Plans of the ranch dating to 1998 (five years after Epstein bought it), cited by the outlet and supposedly obtained by Eddie Aragon – owner of Albuquerque radio station Rock of Talk –reveal the existence of a vast subterranean floor, approximately 8,000 sq ft in size. The space is believed to have accommodated everything from exercise and massage rooms to jacuzzis.

As focus turns to Jeffrey Epstein's ranch, official says: "There is a story to be told in New Mexico"https://t.co/P4Q9Rb6qxX pic.twitter.com/2Z3eQhdqNd

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 22, 2019

However, Farmer claims the floor’s three spacious so-called "mechanical rooms," originally intended for a host of boiler and electrics purposes, were chock-full of computers and video equipment used by Epstein and his alleged accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell for spying.

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell appears during her arraignment hearing on a new indictment at Manhattan Federal Court in New York City, New York, U.S. April 23, 2021, in this courtroom sketch.

© REUTERS / JANE ROSENBERG

After being arrested in July 2020, the 59-year-old British socialite is currently facing six charges including sex trafficking conspiracy and the sex trafficking of a minor. "All of Epstein's residences had these mechanical rooms and tunnel systems. I know this because Epstein told me,” she was quoted as saying by the publication.

Farmer was employed as an in-house artist and receptionist at Epstein's New York home in 1996. She was subsequently transferred to American billionaire businessman Les Wexner's estate in New Albany, Ohio, where she claims to have been abused by Epstein and Maxwell. Wexner, whose business empire later included Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, Express, Inc., and Bath & Body Works, maintained a close relationship with Epstein that began in the 1980s and continued until at least 2007.

"There were pinhole cameras to record everything on every estate. The cameras were ubiquitous. You couldn't see them unless they were pointed out to you," she added.

Epstein had many guests at his ranch over the years, including Prince Andrew. The disgraced royal is himself facing a civil suit filed by Virginia Giuffre (née Roberts), a woman alleging she was trafficked by the late Epstein to have sex with the Duke of York when she was a minor under US law – a claim the royal has consistently denied. Zorro Ranch is currently on the market for $27.5million with Sotheby's.

In this July 15, 2019 courtroom artist's sketch, defendant Jeffrey Epstein, left, and his attorney Martin Weinberg listen during a bail hearing in federal court, in New York

© AP Photo / Elizabeth Williams

Epstein was arrested for sex trafficking and sexually abusing more than 200 women, including minors, and was awaiting trial when he died in his cell in August 2019, with his death officially ruled a suicide.