Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial started less than two weeks ago, but multiple women have already accused the disgraced British socialite of being the architect of sexual abuse—rather than a government patsy, as her defense has suggested.
The question at the heart of the trial, which is unfolding in federal court in New York, is the nature of Maxwell’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender. While Maxwell’s defense has sought to frame the trial as the government’s scapegoating attempt to seek justice for Epstein’s crimes, in light of his death in custody in summer 2019, prosecutors are attempting to show that Maxwell was Epstein’s accomplice in preying on underage girls for years.
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Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to a battery of sex trafficking charges, as well as to perjury charges. (Those charges will be addressed in a separate trial.)
Last week, a woman testifying under the name “Jane” said she was first approached by Maxwell and Epstein in 1994, when she was attending the famed Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She was just 14, and her family’s finances were in tatters after the death of her father, Jane said, according to Law & Crime.
Jane lived in Palm Beach, Florida, where Epstein had a multi-million dollar mansion. She said she began to visit regularly, the New York Times reported. She allegedly formed a friendship with Maxwell, who would take Jane on shopping trips and to the movies—and talk to her rabout sex. Once, a group of women including Maxwell hung out around Epstein’s pool while topless or naked, Jane said.
Then, during one conversation, Epstein pulled Jane into the pool house. He then allegedly masturbated on her.
“And he just got up, and he went into the bathroom and cleaned himself up and acted like nothing happened,” Jane said, the New York Daily News reported. “I was frozen in fear. I’d never seen a penis before let alone seen anything like this.”
Afterward, Jane would allegedly engage in group sex with Epstein, Maxwell, and other young women, according to the Miami Herald. Maxwell would fondle Jane.
Jane did not report the abuse to the authorities, the Miami Herald reported. She later received a $5 million settlement from Epstein’s estate.
Another woman, who spoke under the name “Carolyn,” testified Tuesday that, at around 14 years old, a friend of a friend named Virginia Roberts asked her if she wanted to make money by giving massages to a man—who turned out to be Epstein, the New York Times reported.
Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, is today a prominent Epstein accuser. Carolyn said that she watched Roberts and Epstein have sex. Afterward, Maxwell allegedly arranged for Carolyn to return to Epstein’s, again and again, for sexualized massages. She also said that Maxwell saw her naked on multiple occasions, and once touched her breasts and buttocks.
“You’ve got a great body for Mr. Epstein and his friends,” Carolyn recalled Maxwell telling her, according to the Miami Herald.
On the stand, Carolyn spoke about her mother’s substance abuse, her own drug abuse, and her experience being sexually abused by her grandfather starting at the age of four. Asked what she used the money from Epstein for, Carolyn said, “Buying drugs.”
She said that she returned to Epstein’s until she realized she was too old. She was 18 at the time.
Carolyn has received a $2.8 million settlement from Epstein’s estate.
Yet another woman, “Kate,” also testified that Maxwell had enticed her into providing sexualized massages for Epstein, Law & Crime reported. Kate recalled Maxwell telling her, “You’re such a good girl.”
But the judge instructed the jury not to consider “Kate” to be one of Maxwell’s victims, since Kate allegedly met Maxwell when she was 17 years old—over the age of consent in the relevant jurisdictions.
On one visit to Florida, Kate said she was made to wear a schoolgirl outfit, per Law & Crime.
“I didn’t know how to say no to that,” she testified. “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.”
Kate also ended up in a settlement with Epstein’s estate, to the tune of $3.25 million.
Maxwell’s trial is continuing Wednesday. The prosecution may end their case as soon as this week.
