(New York) “Jane” was 14 when Ghislaine Maxwell first approached her: at the New York trial of the former girlfriend of American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, accused of sex crimes but deceased, a key witness to the The accusation recounted on Tuesday how the couple approached and then coaxed her before abusing her.
On the second day of this trial in Manhattan federal court, where the former British socialite born in France faces life imprisonment for sex trafficking, this victim, whose anonymity was protected, described the couple’s hold on her teenage life 27 years ago.
First of four witnesses called by prosecutors, she also accused Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, of having been present and sometimes participating in the sexual assaults committed by Epstein.
“Terrified”
“I was frozen with fear […], I was terrified and I felt disgusting. I was ashamed, ”she explained, crying several times during her testimony.
Ghislaine Maxwell had first approached her in 1994, near an artsy summer camp in Michigan, while eating ice cream with friends.
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 resided.
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 had invited the mother of “Jane” for tea, multiplying the compliments on the artistic talents of his daughter and presenting himself as possible financial support, she told the court.
Alone with Epstein
Then she started going alone in 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 shop.
One day, when she was still only 14 years old, Jeffrey Epstein “just took my hand and told me to follow him,” she told the court, before describing sexual abuse.
The following times, when Ghislaine Maxwell was present, she acted “as if it was normal”, by showing him in particular “how Jeffrey wanted to be massaged”. “Jane” remembers traveling about ten times with the couple.
Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of media mogul Robert Maxwell who died in 1991, is accused of recruiting underage girls from 1994 to 2004 and making them available to Epstein, for sexual purposes.
She who gravitated in the jet set and the social circles, frequenting the celebrities and the rich fortunes, claims to be innocent and pleads not guilty to the six counts.
The financier, with whom she had had a relationship and of whom she was one of the main collaborators, committed suicide in prison in the summer of 2019 before being able to be tried, a death which had caused a scandal, because it deprived his victims of a lawsuit. Ghislaine Maxwell, who had disappeared from the service in the meantime, was arrested about a year later.
Prior to the testimony of “Jane,” whose cross-examination by defense attorneys began on Tuesday, the court heard from an airplane pilot who had worked for 30 years for the deceased financier, owner of residences in New York, in Florida, New Mexico or the Virgin Islands.
Asked by one of the accused’s lawyers, Lawrence Visoski replied in the affirmative when asked if he remembered having ever transported celebrities like Prince Andrew, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton on a billionaire’s plane. , names already mentioned among the personalities who attended Jeffrey Epstein. He also remembered actor Kevin Spacey.
He also explained that he had never witnessed any inappropriate behavior inside the plane. Then he called Ghislaine Maxwell “number two” of Jeffrey Epstein, ensuring that she often took care of planning the flights.
Prince Andrew, second son of the Queen of England Elizabeth II, is being sued in New York for sexual abuse by a victim of the American billionaire, facts he has always disputed.