NORTHERN MICHIGAN (WPBN/WGTU) — Some of the classified files connected to Jeffrey Epstein were released Friday by the Department of Justice, and are giving new insight on the ties Epstein had to northern Michigan.
In 2019, UpNorthLive News reported Epstein spent time at Interlochen Arts Academy, both as a student and later as a benefactor.
The music camp spokesperson said the school cut ties with the registered sex offender and accused sex trafficker more than a decade prior to that 2019 report.
Jeffrey Epstein was a camper at the National Music Camp at Interlochen in the summer of 1967, and a donor to Interlochen Center for the Arts from 1990 to 2003.
The newly released court documents highlight details on the ties to Interlochen, including Epstein’s first victim:
This case arises out of years of sexual abuse and exploitation of a young girl by notorious pedophile and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (“Epstein”). It all started in 1994 when 13-year-old Jane Doe met Epstein and Defendant Ghislaine Maxwell (“Maxwell”) at a summer camp in Michigan. Jane Doe was their first known victim and was subsequently abused by Epstein and Maxwell for years as a young girl, suffering unimaginable physical and psychological trauma and distress. Despite that, Jane Doe has persevered and survived to tell her story, to hold her perpetrators accountable and to seek justice for the atrocities committed against her, the court files stated.
The court file from January, 17, 2020 goes on to explain how the teen was allegedly approached:
In the summer of 1994, Jane Doe met Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan when she was only 13-years-old. Doe was there as a student in the voice program. Doe was sitting alone on a bench between classes when Epstein and Maxwell approached her. Epstein bragged to her about being a patron of the arts and giving scholarships to talented young artists like Doe. Epstein and Maxwell probed her at length about her background, family situation and where she lived. As Doe got up to leave, Epstein requested her mother’s phone number back in Florida. She was alarmed by his request, but also feared that she could not refuse the older man’s request so she complied and provided him with the phone number. Several weeks later, once Doe had returned from Michigan to Florida, Epstein called Doe’s home. Epstein first spoke with Doe’s mother about how he mentors young kids and provides scholarships for the arts. He requested to speak to Doe and invited her and her mother to his mansion in Palm Beach. He sent a driver across town to pick them up. Over the course of the next several months, Epstein and Maxwell attempted to groom and mentor 13-year-old Jan Doe.
A statement released in 2019 by Interlochen Center for the Arts stated that Epstein’s most significant financial gift was funding the construction of a cabin on campus.
The cabin named “The Epstein Lodge” was owned by Interlochen and money from renting the lodge benefited scholarships for students at the camp.
According to the 2019 statement from Interlochen Center for the Arts:
When Interlochen administration learned of Epstein’s conviction in Florida, the cabin was renamed “The Green Lake Lodge”, and all tangible donor recognition for Mr. Epstein was removed from campus.There is no record that Interlochen had any contact with him following his arrest in the Florida charges in 2007.We have no record of any complaint ever lodged about Mr. Epstein at Interlochen.Our policies, both presently and during the time in which Mr. Epstein was an active donor, do not permit unsupervised contact between students and donors.We are committed to ensuring a safe, nurturing environment in which our students can excel. Their safety and well-being remain our priority.
The court document stating the information about the student at Interlochen is below: