Begun Monday in New York, the much publicized trial of Ghislaine Maxwell reveals how this “tout” would have attracted young girls to satisfy the sexual whims of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in prison two years ago.
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The trial of the daughter of late newspaper mogul Robert Maxwell is gaining worldwide attention. Accused of sex trafficking of minors, this 59-year-old woman is suspected of having recruited, between 1994 and 2004, young girls who would have been sexually exploited by Jeffrey Epstein.
Ghislaine Maxwell, who calls herself innocent, has maintained a romantic, friendly and professional relationship with the wealthy financier for nearly 30 years, in addition to rubbing shoulders with famous personalities such as Prince Andrew, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.
“For my client (…), there would have been no Jeffrey Epstein without Ghislaine Maxwell. (…) It was like a drug dealer who brought his drugs to Epstein and his drugs, they were young girls, ”Lisa Bloom, the lawyer for several alleged victims, told the jury.
On the contrary, Bobbi Sternheim, one of Ghislaine Maxwell’s prosecutors, described the accused as “the target of the anger of women who have been or who think they have been abused by Epstein”, largely absent from the trial.
Presumed terrified victim
One of the four alleged victims, nicknamed Jane to keep her anonymity, told Manhattan federal court on Tuesday that she was 14 when she had her first sexual contact with Jeffrey Epstein.
Under oath, she explained how the man had masturbated on her. “I was frozen with fear. I had never seen a penis before let alone anything like this. I was terrified and felt disgusting. I was ashamed, ”she said, crying several times during her testimony.
Jane claims to have had sex with Epstein virtually every two weeks, aged 14 to 16, at his Palm Beach residence and elsewhere. She remembers traveling with the couple about ten times.
When Ghislaine Maxwell was present, she acted “as if it was normal”, by showing him in particular “how Jeffrey wanted to be massaged”, she reported.
Jane would later say that Epstein liked her to twist his nipples while he mistreated her.
Photo courtesy, Netflix
Orgies
Sometimes other young women joined in and the antics turned into group sex massages.
According to the alleged victim, Ms Maxwell encouraged others to start undressing, Jeffrey climbed onto the massage table and it turned into an orgy.
“It was kissing, oral sex with each other, oral sex with Jeffrey …” she described. Sex toys were used, such as vibrators on girls’ vaginas.
Muscular cross-examination
One of the defense lawyers, Laura Menninger, pointed out inconsistencies in Jane’s testimony on Wednesday. This one justified her oversights or her hesitations because she revealed her “most shameful secrets of all her life”.
The defense also accused her of dramatizing her testimony, recalling that she had been an actress in sentimental soap operas.
Finally, Jane said she had no pending civil lawsuits because she had been compensated to the tune of US $ 5 million ($ 2.9 million after costs) by the “Epstein Fund”, an official redress mechanism drawn from it. in the billionaire’s fortune after his death.
Coaxed before being abused
“Jane” was 14 when Ghislaine Maxwell first approached her in 1994, near an artsy summer camp in Michigan, eating ice cream with friends.
According to the alleged victim, a tall, thin woman approached them.
“She was walking a cute little Yorkie and we asked if we could pet the dog. We started chatting, ”recounted Jane.
Soon, Epstein had joined them. The couple, after becoming interested in Jane’s artistic pursuits, asked her for her phone number, as the teenager lived the rest of the year in Palm Beach, Florida, where the American billionaire had a residence.
At the time, the young girl had lost her father nine months earlier to leukemia and was living with her mother and brothers in a house loaned by friends.
Back in Florida, Epstein invited Jane’s mother for tea, complimenting her daughter’s artistic talents and presenting himself as possible financial support, she told the jury.
Then she started going alone to the villa of Jeffrey Epstein, who gave her money for her mother, while at other times, Ghislaine Maxwell took her to the movies or to go shopping.
One day, when she was still only 14 years old, Jeffrey Epstein “just took my hand and told me to follow him,” she said at the trial, before describing sexual abuse.
She faces life imprisonment
Ghislaine Maxwell has been detained in the United States since the summer of 2020 and faces life imprisonment at the end of a trial which is expected to last six weeks. The twelve jurors will have to determine if she participated in the vast sex trafficking of which the businessman was accused.
According to the charges, she would also have participated in the sexual assaults with her ex-boyfriend, at her home in London or at home, in Manhattan, Florida or even in New Mexico.
The 59-year-old is accused of:
-Conspiracy to induce minors to travel to engage in illegal sexual acts;
-Incitement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sexual acts;
-Conspiracy to transport minors with the intention of engaging in criminal sexual activity;
-Transportation of a minor with the intention of engaging in criminal sexual activity;
-Conspiracy of sex trafficking;
-Sex trafficking of a minor.
Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in prison
Wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls and hanged himself in his jail cell in 2019, before he could stand trial. His death had caused a scandal, because it deprived his victims of a trial. Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested about a year later.
The billionaire, who owned residences in New York, Florida, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands, had been convicted in Florida in 2008 for paying young girls for massages. However, he had only served 13 months in prison following a confidential agreement with the then prosecutor.
Jet set and famous personalities
The prosecution’s first witness was Lawrence Visoski, an airplane pilot who worked for Jeffrey Epstein for 30 years. He said he had previously flown celebrities like Britain’s Prince Andrew, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton on a billionaire’s plane. He also remembered actor Kevin Spacey.
He said he did not see any passenger having sex with minors.
Prince Andrew is accused of having “sexually assaulted” Virginia Giuffre, then a minor, on three occasions: in London at Ghislaine Maxwell’s and in the properties of the American financier in New York and in the Virgin Islands. The British prince denies these allegations.
Another friend of Epstein, the former French model agent Jean-Luc Brunel, was indicted in December 2020 for rape and sexual assault.