The first of the four women who say Ghislaine Maxwell “groomed” them to have sex with Jeffrey Esptein and others took the stand Tuesday and, in graphic detail, described how she was taught to satisfy a predator.
Testifying at Maxwell’s trial in New York City and using the pseudonym Jane, the woman said she was 14 and eating ice cream at a summer camp for young artists when Maxwell and Epstein approached her and struck up a conversation.
Soon, Jane said, Maxwell was training her how to “massage” Epstein.
Later, she said, she found herself taking part in orgies that included Maxwell and Epstein at the financier’s palatial homes in Palm Beach, Florida, New York City, and on his New Mexico ranch.
The often emotional testimony came on the second day of Maxwell’s trial and after Epstein’s longtime pilot, Larry Visoski, testified that he met Jane on one of the flights and remembered her “piercing blue eyes.”
But on cross-examination, Visoski said he was not aware that she was underage and was not aware of any minors flying on Epstein’s private planes “without a parent.”
“She looked like a woman,” Visoski, who told the court he worked for Epstein from 1991 to 2019, said of Jane.
A 59-year-old British socialite, Maxwell has been accused by prosecutors of identifying and targeting vulnerable young women and “grooming” them for sex with Epstein and other powerful men.
Maxwell, who is on trial for allegedly helping Epstein recruit and abuse Jane and three other underage girls, mostly in the 1990s, has denied all the accusations and pleaded not guilty to the six charges against her.
Her lawyers contend prosecutors are going after Maxwell because they can’t try Epstein, a convicted sex offender who hanged himself in prison two years ago while awaiting trial over alleged sex trafficking.
Epstein’s flights became the focus of intense media scrutiny after it was discovered that former President Bill Clinton, Britain’s Prince Andrew, lawyer Alan Dershowitz and a host of other celebrities took trips on his planes.
Virginia Roberts Guiffre, an alleged Epstein victim who isn’t part of this case, has charged in a civil lawsuit that Maxwell trafficked her to Andrew when she was 17. The British royal has denied the allegations.
Visoski said he met Guiffre as well on one of the flights in the “mid to late 90s” and had no idea how old she was either. He also said he never witnessed any sex on the planes he piloted to Epstein’s numerous luxurious homes.
“I didn’t know her age, she didn’t look young,” he testified. “She was a woman in my category.”
Asked about the well-known names who flew on Epstein’s planes, Visoski mentioned Andrew and also listed former astronaut and Ohio Sen. John Glenn, actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker, and the violinist Itzhak Perlman. He said Donald Trump was a repeat flyer before he became president.
“There was more than once, I believe,” Visoski said. “I certainly remember President Trump but not anyone else associated with him.”
Trump, who once called Epstein a “terrific guy,” told reporters in 2019 that they had a falling out 15 years earlier and that he “was not a fan of his.”
Visoski said he frequently ran into Maxwell and testified that she oversaw Epstein’s households.
Asked about Maxwell and Epstein’s relationship, he said: “I thought it was more personal than business.”
Visoski was questioned by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey, who is the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey. James Comey was fired from his post by then-President Trump in 2017.
Maxwell’s trial in the Southern District of New York started Monday and is expected to take six weeks.