Ghislaine Maxwell trial: New pictures inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach home
New images show the Florida mansion where Jeffrey Epstein is said to have sexually abused underage girls and young women, allegedly with the help of Ghislaine Maxwell.
New images show the Florida mansion where Jeffrey Epstein is said to have sexually abused underage girls and young women, allegedly with the help of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
Prosecutors submitted a series of photos of the late paedophile’s Palm Beach estate as evidence in Ms Maxwell’s ongoing federal sex-trafficking trial in Lower Manhattan.
One of the photos, taken during a Palm Beach police raid on the estate in 2005 depicts a marble-walled room decked out with a massage table and a black desk – where copies of a strict 58-page handbook were kept. Another shows the master bedroom, complete with a four-poster bed and white couch.
Several drawings of naked women can be seen hanging on the walls, as well as a drawing of Ms Maxwell, who was known as the “lady of the house”.
There are also pictures of the pool, where longtime housekeeper Juan Alessi testified that he would often see countless young women hang out with Epstein and Ms Maxwell, usually topless.
Alessi also told the court that on a few occasions, he found a “large dildo” while cleaning up Epstein’s quarters after his so-called massages.
Teen told Epstein ‘needed sex 3 times a day’
A second woman has taken the witness stand in the sex trafficking trial of Ms Maxwell, telling a court the British socialite informed her that Epstein needed to have sex “three times a day”.
“Kate,” a pseudonym, is the second of four women expected to testify at the trial of Ms Maxwell, who has pleaded not guilty to six counts of enticing and transporting minors for sex. She is accused of grooming underage girls to be exploited by her long-time partner Epstein, the late financier who killed himself in jail two years ago while awaiting his own trial.
Introduced to Ms Maxwell by a then boyfriend in Paris in 1994 when she was just 17, Kate said she was invited to Ms Maxwell’s London townhouse, where Epstein was wearing a robe. Ms Maxwell told her Epstein’s massage therapist had cancelled and asked if she could fill in.
Kate claimed Epstein then took off his robe to reveal his naked body, Ms Maxwell handed her massage oil and then closed the door. Epstein then initiated sexual contact with her, but was unable to discuss the details per the court’s ruling. She said Ms Maxwell asked her afterwards if she had fun.
“How did it go? Did you have fun? Was it good?” she quoted Ms Maxwell as asking. “She seemed very excited and happy.”
“Later Maxwell told me to find someone to give Epstein a b***job,” Kate claimed, adding Ms Maxwell told her he needed to have sex “three times a day”.
Maxwell gave witness ‘schoolgirl outfit’
Kate accused the 59-year-old of giving her a school uniform in order to dress up for Epstein.
She said the pleated skirt, white socks and shirt were laid out for her on a bed when she arrived at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion in Florida with the duo in the early 1990s.
“I thought it would be fun for you to take Jeffrey his tea in this outfit,” she says Ms Maxwell told her.
Asked why she wore it, she replied: “I didn’t know how to say no to that. I didn’t know anybody in Florida. I had never been to Palm Beach or Florida before. I wasn’t sure if I said no if I would have to leave or what consequence there would be for not doing it.”
Ms Maxwell told her she was a “good girl” and “one of his favourites”.
Maxwell bragged about friendships with Trump, Prince Andrew
Judge Alison Nathan told the jury that Kate is not a victim of the crimes charged in the indictment and the government has been instructed that she is not to testify about the details of any sexual contact with Epstein.
Kate said she maintained contact with Epstein into her early 30s, not wanting to “admit what happened to me” because she “was fearful of disengaging because I had witnessed how connected they both were”.
Ms Maxwell “seemed to know everybody”, she said.
“She told me she was friends with Prince Andrew. Friends with Donald Trump,” Kate added.
Victim asked to find young women for Epstein
She also alleged that Ms Maxwell asked her to find someone to give Epstein oral sex and that she said that he needed sex three times a day.
“You know what he likes. Cute, young, pretty — like you,” she said Ms Maxwell told her.
Kate said she saw photographs of underage girls in the Palm Beach house and saw other girls in person, including one “who seemed a lot younger than me. Very young”.
Kate said she never recruited any other girls.
She also confirmed that she was given gifts including a Prada handbag, which prosecutors have claimed was part of the grooming process.
Kate, who now works with women who are victims of trauma, was once a musician and singer.
She told the court that she met Ms Maxwell in Paris when on a trip with a boyfriend when she was about 17 and that Ms Maxwell invited her to tea at her house a few weeks later.
“She seemed very exciting. She seemed to be everything I wanted to be,” she said. “I had a really lovely time, and I felt special. And I felt … that I found a new connection that could be very meaningful for me.”
Kate said Ms Maxwell called Epstein a philanthropist who liked to help young people.
“She said that I was exactly the kind of person that he would help.”
A photo of Jeffrey Epstein's massage table partially collapsed was entered into evidence by prosecutors at the Ghislaine Maxwell trial Sunday.
— Ben Feuerherd (@benfeuerherd) December 6, 2021
They physically brought out the table in court on Friday https://t.co/outYdoIsTlpic.twitter.com/3w9zkexP5i
Ms Maxwell described her as “strangely strong for her size” and suggested she give Epstein’s feet a squeeze to show how strong she was.
Kate did and was then asked to massage him as his massage therapist had cancelled, told by Ms Maxwell to “have a good time”, who then opened the door to reveal a naked Epstein before one of the sessions.
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After the massage – which included sex acts with Epstein – Ms Maxwell told Kate that she was “such a good girl” and that she was “so happy you were able to come”.
“She sounded really pleased,” Kate added.
The trial continues.
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