Ghislaine Maxwell, an alleged co-conspirator of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was present in the room when Epstein engaged in sexual contact with a minor, according to the victim’s testimony Tuesday.
The woman, referred by prosecutors as “Jane,” testified on the second day of Maxwell’s trial. Jane, who is now in her early 40’s, told the jury that Epstein had sexual contact with her 14-year-old self multiple times in 1994, according to Reuters.
A federal indictment of Maxwell, who faces trafficking and other charges for recruiting minors for the sex offender, details accounts of Jane and other two women, all of whom were underage when allegedly sexually abused by Epstein, ABC News reported.
Prosecution’s opening was masterful storytelling: Jane, 14, met a man and woman at her summer camp. They lured her with scholarship promises. The man and woman were Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. 3 more underage girls will tell a similar story.
Riveting, heartbreaking.
— Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) November 30, 2021
The witness told her story of meeting Epstein and Maxwell during her time at a summer camp at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. The alleged sex traffickers reportedly told Jane that they were benefactors of the camp and awarded many student scholarships, according to Reuters.
Jane’s family was struggling financially at the time after the passing of her father a year prior to that, so the girl frequented Epstein’s house, as he promised to finance her singing career. (RELATED: Jeffrey Epstein’s Pilot Says He Flew Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Donald Trump On Private Jets)
On one of her stays at the abuser’s house, Jane testified, Epstein took her to a pool by hand and pulled his pants down, Reuters reported.
“He pulled me on top of himself and proceeded to masturbate on me and then he got up and went into the bathroom and cleaned himself up,” Jane testified. “I was terrified and felt gross and I felt ashamed.”
Maxwell allegedly also demonstrated to the 14-year-old how Epstein liked to be massaged, Jane said, describing the defendant’s demeanor as “very casual.”