'Everyone is stunned' as nude teen pics left unredacted for weeks in Epstein files horror

The Department of Justice failed to take down more than a dozen problematic images released from the Jeffrey Epstein files, including nude photos and identifying details from passports and drivers licenses.

CNN worked with Israeli software firm Visual Layer to analyze tens of thousands of photos released by the DOJ and found more than 100 explicit photos that show what appears to be naked teenagers and other images that should have been redacted, and some of those lingered online for weeks.

"We found more than a dozen photos that definitely should have been redacted but weren't and remained on the public DOJ site for nearly a month," said CNN's Marshall Cohen. "Now, I'm about to show you some of these pictures, but keep in mind CNN blurred the versions that you're going to see, but they were available fully unredacted on the DOJ site for weeks. So there were pictures of a young girl kissing Jeffrey Epstein on the cheek [and] there were also non-sexual but unredacted images of other young children and toddlers who are obviously minors and should have been redacted, and also there were several pictures of passports and driver's licenses revealing private data like ID numbers, addresses and dates of birth."

Those images were all taken down and replaced with properly redacted versions after CNN contacted the DOJ, and spokesperson said the federal agency was working around the clock to address victim concerns in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but Cohen said that was not previously the case.

"This is where the story takes an even darker turn," Cohen said. "It's incredibly disturbing because we found also, in addition to everything I just described, more than 100 sexually explicit photos that the DOJ actually posted online last month now, they did take these down pretty quickly, and some of them were replaced with redacted versions, which is what we're about to show you on your screen there were dozens of photos showing what appeared to be two naked teenagers on a beach. There were also multiple uncensored nude selfies and at least one image showing Epstein with an undressed female."

"Now, we spoke to legal experts and advocates for survivors of sexual abuse," he added. "Everyone is stunned that these images made it through the DOJ's review, especially because top officials were adamant that they redacted every single woman in the Epstein files. Advocates said this situation could retraumatize the victims, and even though the DOJ did take down the explicit photos, we all know it's basically impossible to truly delete something from the internet after it's posted."

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