Hugh Hefner reported Epstein to the FBI in 2005, but it was apparently 'back-burnered' for 15 years

Playboy founder and publisher Hugh Hefner reportedly informed the FBI several times in 2005 that a Playboy Playmate had been sexually trafficked and abused by the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and others, but that the FBI didn’t investigate the claim for 15 years, according to court documents. 

The Playboy Playmate was Audra Christiansen, who says that Hefner made multiple reports to the FBI, but that the agency didn’t follow up at the time, according to former FBI special agent Jennifer Coffindaffer. 

“To wait 15 years to conduct this interview and to actually get down to the nitty gritty … that is just too long to wait,” Coffindaffer told “NewsNation Prime” on Saturday. “Somehow, this got back-burnered, and it should have never happened that it would take so long for this investigation to follow through.”

Epstein reportedly committed suicide in a New York jail cell while awaiting court proceedings on federal charges of trafficking minors. 

Christiansen’s story suggests that if the FBI had acted on Hefner’s calls, Epstein could have been held to account for his actions long before he was arrested and held awaiting trial. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitation in Florida for which he received a very lenient and highly criticized work-release jail sentence.

Coffindaffer, a law and justice contributor for NewsNation, said the FBI may have been swamped at that time with other priorities, such as post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism investigations and public corruption cases.

“That was the priority, and, unfortunately, human trafficking wasn’t. I’m not trying to provide some sort of excuse, because there is no excuse, but merely an explanation,” she said.