Ghislaine Maxwell is charged with recruiting young girls for sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Now a second witness testified.
New York – In the trial of Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime business partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, the second main witness incriminated the accused heavily. The woman, who testified anonymously under the code name “Kate”, described Maxwell in court as the driving force behind her recruitment as a sexual partner for Jeffrey Epstein.
At one meeting, Maxwell ordered her to put on a school costume to serve Epstein tea. Another time Maxwell called her to Epstein on the pretext of filling in for a canceled massage appointment. According to the witness, both incidents were followed by a sexual act. When asked why she still did not end contact with Epstein and Maxwell, “Kate” said: “I knew how connected the two were and was afraid of negative consequences “, Quoted the US news portal The Daily Beast, the 44-year-old witness.
Prosecution from Epstein business partner Ghislaine Maxwell: Alleged mediator
The multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein was accused of having sexually abused several minors between 1994 and 2004 and referring them to other influential men for sexual exploitation. The alleged crimes are said to have been committed at Epstein’s properties in New York, Florida, Santa Fe and London. Epstein himself is said to have committed suicide in a prison cell in the summer of 2019.
The witness, who Maxwell met as a 17-year-old, was at the time of the alleged incidents just over the required age to consent to sexual acts – which, according to the judge, were therefore not illegal. At the time of the crime, consensual sex was allowed in the UK at the age of 17. To illustrate Maxwell’s role as an alleged mediator between minors and their trust in Epstein, she nevertheless allowed the witness to testify.
Trial against confidants of Jeffrey Epstein: Ghislaine Maxwell faces a long prison term
The defendant’s defense team tried in court to undermine the credibility of the witness, citing her longstanding addiction to alcohol, cocaine and sleeping pills. The first main witness with the pseudonym “Jane” testified against Epstein’s business partner on the second day of the trial at the end of November. The 59-year-old was sometimes present and actively engaged in sexual acts when she was abused by Epstein, the witness recalled.
The trial of Maxwell began a good week ago and is estimated to last six weeks, the prosecution relies on four main witnesses. Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 and has been in custody ever since. She rejects all allegations. If convicted, the daughter of British media mogul Robert Maxwell faces decades of imprisonment. (ska / dpa / AFP)
