A lawsuit has been filed against the FBI by a dozen victims of Jeffrey Epstein, accusing the national law enforcement agency of failing to adequately investigate allegations against the accused sex offender. The complainants, all anonymized in court documents as “Jane Doe”, claim that the FBI "failed to adequately investigate the abuse" and ignored Epstein's sexual interest in underage girls. The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court, alleges that between 1996 and 2006, the FBI received reports, complaints, and tips concerning the illegal sex trafficking of women and underage minors, sex abuse, and human rights violations committed by Epstein and his associates. The suit claims that the FBI did not open an investigation until a year after being alerted by the Palm Beach Police Department in 2005 of child prostitution involving a 14-year-old girl at Epstein's mansion. The lawsuit also alleges that the FBI was complicit in allowing Epstein and his co-conspirators to continue victimizing young women despite having evidence of child prostitution. The victims are seeking unspecified damages for the harm they suffered due to the FBI's alleged negligence. The FBI has not responded to the lawsuit at this time. This lawsuit follows the unsealing of court documents last month containing the identities of people linked to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, including former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking women and girls for Epstein to sexually abuse. Epstein, a convicted pedophile, died in jail before facing trial on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019. The lawsuit claims that the FBI's "repeated and continued failures, delays, and inaction" allowed Epstein to run his sex trafficking operation for more than 20 years, resulting in the continued sexual abuse of the 12 alleged victims. The lawsuit also alleges that the FBI failed to investigate complaints and tips about Epstein's illegal activities, including reports of child prostitution and sex trafficking. The victims are seeking to hold the FBI accountable for their alleged negligence in allowing Epstein's crimes to continue unchecked for decades.