MICHIGAN—Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein allegedly had sexual contact with two students at the Interlochen Center for the Arts roughly five years before his first criminal conviction, according to a new independent investigation commissioned by the school.
The finding directly contradicts what the Northern Michigan arts school has told the public for more than a decade. And despite turning over the report to the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s Office and the county sheriff, nobody appears to be investigating the situation.
The report—compiled by the Massachusetts-based Sanghavi Law Office over two years that included roughly 180 interviews—documented about 70 first-hand accounts of sexual abuse and misconduct involving 47 adults connected to the prestigious Northern Michigan school.
The accounts reportedly span from the 1960s through the 2010s. Epstein is one of the 47.
What’s new?
According to the report, one alumna alleged Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell invited her to visit Epstein’s on-campus lodge, where Epstein “engaged in sexual conduct” with her by brushing against her body over her clothing, in “a manner in which he indicated was accidental.” The woman also told investigators Epstein paid for her to fly to New York while she was a student.
Another former student told investigators that Epstein also paid to fly her to New York, where she gave him a massage and he “may have asked her to remove her top.” Her mother reportedly called the school to warn about the predatory behavior but said nobody followed up.
In describing the abuse to investigators, one of the former students also said Epstein offered to cover her tuition but withdrew the offer “after she did not engage in requested conduct.”
According to the report, both of the new allegations are from 2003—about five years before Epstein’s first criminal conviction, and the final year he was listed as a donor to the school.
What is Interlochen saying about this?
Interlochen has faced scrutiny over its dealings with Epstein for years.
He attended the school’s summer camp himself in 1967 and became a significant donor from 1990 to 2003, contributing a total of more than $400,000. The school allowed a lodge to be built in his name—and Epstein was reportedly allowed to stay there for a couple weeks every year.
Separately, court documents and US Department of Justice records also allege that Epstein and Maxwell encountered two of their earliest known victims at Interlochen—a 13- and a 14-year-old girl attending summer camp in the ‘90s. One of them testified at Maxwell’s 2021 criminal trial and alleged in a lawsuit that she was groomed and abused by Epstein for years afterward.
Interlochen stripped Epstein’s name from his lodge after his 2008 conviction and formally cut ties with him. It reviewed its records then, and again after he was charged in 2019, and said both times that it “found no reports of misconduct involving Epstein in our records.”
The lodge was demolished in June.
A culture that allowed it
The new report describes an environment in which staff and faculty were routinely able to isolate students. Sleepovers, camping trips, private lessons, parties, and special dinners all created opportunities for adults to build close relationships with students, investigators found.
Notably, faculty members were also permitted to sign out students for overnight visits.
One alum who attended in the 1970s told investigators that intimate relationships between faculty and students were widely known and tolerated—describing a “lax environment” in which staff who approved those overnight sign-outs “did not act in a vacuum.”
About a third of the adults named in the report—including Epstein—are now dead, according to investigators. None are currently employed by the Interlochen Center for the Arts.
In a letter accompanying the report, Interlochen President Trey Devey and board chair Barrett Rollins said the school is “deeply sorry for the harm experienced by members of our community,” and outlined steps including a fund to offset survivors’ counseling costs.
What happens now?
The Grand Traverse County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office told reporters it received the investigative report commissioned by Interlochen on July 28 but had not yet fully reviewed it.
Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office is stuck in a holding pattern.
Sheriff Michael Shea told the Detroit Free Press that his office has received the same redacted version of the report that’s available to the public but has no basis to open an investigation.
“If we can find a victim and the victim wants to file a complaint, we will investigate it,” Shea said.
House Resolution 284—a bipartisan measure that would create a Michigan House select committee with subpoena power to keep investigating Epstein’s ties to Interlochen—is still stuck in the state House Government Operations Committee, where it has been parked since April.
Republican House Speaker Matt Hall has refused to bring it up for a vote.
READ MORE: 8 Michigan ties in the Epstein files
Independent investigator Elizabeth Sanghavi is accepting additional accounts from survivors through October 31, 2026 at elizabeth@sanghavilawoffice.com or 617-505-3010. After that date, reports can be made directly to Interlochen at investigation@interlochen.org.
