Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Unseen pics of socialite and Jeffrey Epstein with accusers shown to jury
A woman has told the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell she was just 14 when the socialite paid her to give sexual massages to Jeffrey Epstein.
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A woman testified at the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell that she was just 14 years old when the British socialite began arranging for her to give massages to Jeffrey Epstein which always ended in sexual activity.
The woman, identified only as “Carolyn,” said was usually paid $300 after the encounters with Epstein, often by Maxwell herself.
Maxwell, 59, is accused of grooming underage girls to be exploited by her long-time partner Epstein, a wealthy American financier who killed himself in jail two years ago while awaiting trial.
She has pleaded not guilty to six counts of enticing and transporting minors for sex.
Carolyn, voice trembling at times, told the jury in a Manhattan courtroom about her difficult upbringing and her struggles with drugs.
“My mum was an alcoholic and drug addict,” she said.
Carolyn said she dropped out of school after year seven, when she would have been about 13 years old, and was raped and molested by her grandfather when she was a child.
Unlike two previous accusers who have taken the witness stand, she said she was introduced to Epstein not by Maxwell but by another girl, Virginia Roberts, who she knew through her then boyfriend.
Roberts, also known as Virginia Giuffre, who now lives in Australia, is not expected to testify during Maxwell’s trial but has gone public with her accusations of sexual abuse by Epstein.
“Virginia asked me if I wanted to make money,” Carolyn said. Roberts told her she could take her to meet a “wealthy friend” and provide massages, she said.
Carolyn said the first time she went to Epstein’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida, she was accompanied by Roberts.
“We were greeted by Ms Maxwell,” she said, and taken to a bathroom where there was a massage table.
After Epstein brushed his teeth, he lay “face down on the massage table,” Carolyn said. Epstein and Roberts had sex while Carolyn was in the room, she said.
Carolyn said she returned to Epstein’s Palm Beach home more than 100 times when she was between 14 and 18 years old.
She said the visits would always begin with a massage but “something sexual happened every single time.” Carolyn said she went to Epstein’s every week, sometimes two or three times a week, and Maxwell played an active role.
“Maxwell would call and set up an appointment time... for like the first year,” she said.
“I got paid $300 dollars” for every visit, Carolyn said.
On one occasion, she said, Maxwell saw her naked, touched her breasts and told her she had a “great body.” Carolyn was asked by the prosecutor why she continued to go to Epstein’s and what she did with the money.
“I was buying drugs,” she said, “marijuana, cocaine.” Carolyn said Epstein and Maxwell knew she was underage because she had told them she was 14 years old.
She said she stopped going when she was 18 “because I became too old.” Carolyn told the jury that she had received between $1 million to $3 million from the Epstein victims fund.
A woman identified by the pseudonym “Jane” testified last week that she was also 14 when Epstein started sexually abusing her. Jane said Maxwell was sometimes present and even participated.
Jurors in Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial were shown pictures of the British socialite and late financier Jeffrey Epstein together, including two shots that showed the socialite rubbing Epstein’s feet aboard a private jet and one of them kissing.
FBI analyst Kimberly Meder told the court the pictures, which depicted Maxwell’s relationship with Epstein, were recovered from CDs seized during a raid on Epstein’s Manhattan mansion in 2019.
The cache of digital pictures, discovered when FBI agents seized compact discs from Epstein’s Manhattan home in July 2019, also includes images of two women who have accused Maxwell of serving them up to Epstein while they were teenagers, Reuters reports.
One of the accusers in the pictures is “Kate” – who used the pseudonym to testify on Monday that Maxwell groomed her for sexual encounters with Epstein, bought her gifts, and made her wear a schoolgirl costume.
Kate told the court she was 17 when Maxwell first lured her into a room with Epstein.
According to the witness, Maxwell invited her over to her London townhouse where she was introduced to Epstein, then aged in his 50s, in 1994.
“(Maxwell) led me upstairs and opened the door (to the massage room),” Kate said.
“Jeffrey was in the room … he took off (his) robe. He was naked … Maxwell was in the doorway facing him (then) closed the door.”
Kate said Epstein then initiated sexual contact and the pair engaged in a sex act on the first of what would become many occasions.
“I saw Ghislaine (as I was leaving and) she said: ‘how’d you go? Did you have fun? Was it good?’”
On another occasion, Maxwell allegedly told Kate: “You’re such a good girl. I’m so happy you were able to come. He likes you a lot,” Kate told the court.
Kate said she continued to accept invitations from Maxwell because she “didn’t want to admit” what was happening to her.
It followed emotional testimony last week from alleged victim Jane – a pseudonym – who said many of her underage sexual encounters with Epstein began as massages. Prosecutors say the word massage was a “ruse” to get underage girls in a room with Epstein.
Prosecutors anticipate calling the brother of a woman known by the pseudonym Jane to corroborate certain aspects of the account she gave on the stand last week.
On Tuesday, Maxwell’s lawyer Laura Menninger said prosecutors had informed her that Jane had called her brother, known by the pseudonym Brian, after her testimony and talked to him about it. Menninger raised concerns that Jane could have coached Brian on what to say Reuters reports.
“I’m very troubled and concerned,” Menninger said, adding that Jane had told Brian that Menninger – who cross-examined her – was “an expletive that rhymes with front.
“Prosecutors said Maxwell’s attorneys were free to cross-examine Brian on what he discussed with Jane, and that he had talked about his expected testimony with them prior to the phone call so there was no risk that Jane had coached him. US District Judge Alison Nathan said she would consider the issue.
Maxwell faces six charges, including transportation of a minor with intent to engage in illegal sex acts and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. She has pleased not guilty to all charges, and could face up to 80 years in prison if convicted. Her lawyers have argued she is a scapegoat for Epstein, who died in his jail cell while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
During the trial’s first week, jurors also heard from Epstein’s longtime personal pilot, who recalled Britain’s Prince Andrew and former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump flying on Epstein’s plane.
The trial is expected to run for six weeks.
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