Hugh Hefner allegedly tried to alert the FBI about Jeffrey Epstein years before federal investigators finally contacted one of the women who said she had been abused and trafficked by the disgraced financier.

Newly surfaced court documents claim former Playboy model Audra Christiansen turned to Hefner for help in 2005 after telling him she was an Epstein survivor.

Christiansen allegedly told the Playboy founder that Epstein had raped her and trafficked her for roughly a decade. According to the filing, she believed Hefner’s fame and influence could help convince federal authorities to take her allegations seriously.

She reportedly asked Hefner to contact the FBI on her behalf — and he allegedly did.

Hefner, who died in 2017 at age 91, contacted the FBI “multiple times” about Christiansen’s allegations, according to reporting by Miami Herald journalist Julie K. Brown.

But despite those alleged warnings, Christiansen claims she waited approximately 15 years before the bureau finally contacted her.

The court filing states that although the FBI indicated it would follow up, investigators did not reach out to Christiansen until October 2020.

“For about fifteen years, the FBI did not investigate Ms. Christiansen’s tips or follow up on her allegations,” the complaint alleges.

Christiansen’s accusations are now part of a sweeping lawsuit brought by 34 Epstein survivors against the United States.

The women claim federal authorities repeatedly failed to act on warnings about Epstein and his alleged sex-trafficking operation, allowing the convicted sex offender to continue preying on victims.

According to the complaint, the FBI’s alleged failure to investigate Christiansen’s account violated agency policies requiring investigators to pursue reports involving child sexual abuse and trafficking.

The lawsuit goes even further, alleging that failing to investigate credible warnings created a “foreseeable zone of risk” for future Epstein victims.

Attorney Arick Fudali, who represents several Epstein survivors, said the latest allegations were deeply troubling but hardly unexpected.

“The latest reporting about the FBI ignoring complaints about Epstein in 2005 are devastating but not surprising,” Fudali told NewsNation. “Law enforcement has failed Epstein’s survivors for decades and continues to do so today at the highest level.”

The federal government is seeking to have the survivors’ claims dismissed, arguing the women waited too long to bring their cases because the alleged misconduct took place between 1996 and 2017.

The explosive allegations surrounding Christiansen come as other women from Epstein’s past continue to describe what they say was his disturbing pattern of attempting to use women to benefit himself and his powerful connections.

One of those women is Patricia Schmidt, who said she dated Epstein decades before his crimes became international news.

Schmidt was 23 and working as an office assistant at Bear Stearns when she met Epstein through her boss. She later told 60 Minutes Australia that the two began a consensual relationship that lasted about a year.

At the time, Schmidt believed she was falling in love.

Looking back at diaries she kept during the relationship, however, Schmidt said she began to see the situation very differently.

She now believes Epstein viewed her as a form of “currency” he could potentially use with wealthy friends and business associates.

One diary entry described Epstein calling Schmidt and asking her to show one of his friends around Bear Stearns.

“His friend arrived with his father, both from Switzerland,” Schmidt recalled reading.

She said Epstein would frequently ask her to meet his clients and friends for lunches or dinners.

When asked whether she now believes Epstein was effectively offering her to those men for sex, Schmidt said she did.

“I have to think absolutely yes,” she said.

Schmidt stressed that she never became sexually involved with the men Epstein introduced her to.

“I wasn’t interested in any of these men,” she said, adding that she nevertheless believes Epstein’s intention was “to make that trade.”

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

The latest court allegations are once again raising difficult questions about how many warnings authorities may have received about Epstein — and whether earlier action could have prevented more women from becoming victims.