Maxwell apparently told one victim that Epstein needed to have sex “about three times a day.”
The trial of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime confidant to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, kicked off on November 29.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and enticing minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, and the transportation of minors to engage in criminal sexual activity for allegedly grooming and recruiting underage girls between 1994 and 1997. She is also charged with sex trafficking of a minor from 2001 to 2004, as well as one count of sex trafficking conspiracy.
Civil attorney Dan Kaiser, who represents several alleged Epstein victims (though none involved in this trial), told NBC: “This is a ring that ensnared dozens and dozens and dozens of girls. And Maxwell was an integral player.”
Four alleged victims are expected to testify in the case against Maxwell. We have the latest below.
Accuser: Ghislaine inspected my body for Epstein
A woman identified as “Carolyn” told the court on December 7 that Ghislaine Maxwell personally inspected her after she was introduced to Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein as a child. She “felt my boobs and my hips and my buttocks and said I had a great body for Mr. Epstein and his friends,” Carolyn said.
At first, Carolyn said she was 14 and later recollected that she was 13 when she was introduced to Maxwell and Epstein by Virginia Roberts Giuffre — one of the most prominent accusers claiming that the couple sexually abused and trafficked her.
Carolyn said that she visited Epstein’s Palm Beach home two or three times per week in the early 2000s, and each time, $300 in cash was left for her on the bathroom sink. She remembered bringing three friends to the house over the years, and was rewarded with $600 on each occasion, she says.
Woman says Maxwell described Epstein’s carnal needs
A woman who has accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse testified on December 6 that Ghislaine Maxwell set up their meetings and discussed sexual topics — such as Epstein’s carnal needs — regularly. Maxwell “said that he needed to have sex about three times a day,” the woman, who spoke under the pseudonym “Kate,” told the court.
Kate claimed that she’d met Maxwell during a trip to Paris when she was 17. She said that a few weeks later, in London, Maxwell had told her that her “philanthropist” boyfriend Epstein could boost Kate’s aspiring music career. She alleged that she was in fact recruited to give Epstein massages that quickly became sexual encounters, and on one occasion was made to wear a “schoolgirl outfit” while she served him tea.
‘Epstein introduced me to Trump aged 14,’ accuser says
One of Ghislaine Maxwell’s alleged victims, identified as Jane, told the court on December 1 that the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump in the 1990s. The alleged encounter took place at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Jane didn’t go into any detail regarding the encounter.
Jane also accepted that in 1998, she took part in a Miss Teen USA beauty pageant that was associated with Trump. It wasn’t clear whether that was before or after the Mar-a-Logo meeting.
First alleged victim testifies
A woman identified as Jane told the court on November 30 about the awful abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.
She said the pair gradually normalized explicit sexual activity for her from the age of 14, after she met them while eating ice cream at a camp for young artists. Jane said Maxwell transitioned quickly from behaving like a “big sister” to training her how to perform sexual massages on Epstein.
She said that Epstein would masturbate on her and molest her, and that Maxwell would sometimes join in, touching both Jane and Epstein. She said that she was “frozen in fear” when Epstein sexually abused her in a pool house at his Palm Beach mansion, and was forced to partake in orgies in several of his palatial homes.
According to NBC, Maxwell defense attorney Laura Menninger attempted to discredit Jane during cross-examination, highlighting that she claimed to have “escaped” Epstein in 1999, but didn’t reveal Maxwell’s alleged involvement to investigators until Epstein’s death by suicide a decade later.
“I don’t know. They did despicable things to me, and I didn’t want to talk about them,” Jane replied.
How many answers can we expect?
The scope of the case against Maxwell is limited to allegations that she helped Epstein recruit and abuse four underage girls, mostly in the 1990s — but will steer clear of claims that she trafficked an alleged 17-year-old victim to Prince Andrew.
The trial is also unlikely to delve into Epstein’s social and business relationships with public figures like former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, and Ohio billionaire Leslie Wexner.
