NEW YORK — Long before Jeffrey Epstein became infamous as a convicted sex offender and the center of a sprawling sex-trafficking scandal, his pattern of manipulating and exploiting women may have started much earlier — within his own family, according to a researcher and biographer.

A newly highlighted claim suggests that Epstein’s troubling behavior toward women dates back decades, beginning with an alleged incident involving a member of his own family. The revelation adds another dark layer to the already disturbing portrait of the late financier.

An old family photo shows a young Jeffrey Epstein standing alongside an older woman and man, offering a glimpse into his early life. A circular inset image displays Little St. James, the private island Epstein infamously owned and where many of the alleged crimes took place.

The biographer’s research into Epstein’s early years indicates that the disgraced financier’s history of exploitation did not begin with his high-profile associations or criminal convictions, but much earlier in his life. These claims, while deeply disturbing, shed new light on the roots of his behavior.

Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide, but it has done little to quell public fascination and outrage over the full extent of his crimes and the powerful figures associated with him.

The latest details from the biographer are expected to fuel further scrutiny of Epstein’s past as victims, researchers, and the public continue to seek a complete understanding of how his predatory behavior developed and went unchecked for so long.

This revelation underscores the long timeline of Epstein’s alleged misconduct and raises difficult questions about how early warning signs may have been overlooked. The full book or research from the biographer is anticipated to provide even more context into one of the most notorious criminal cases in modern history.