Second accuser says Ghislaine Maxwell asked her to find young women for Epstein

The second accuser in the New York sex-trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell alleged on Monday the Briton asked her to find young women for sexual encounters with the financier Jeffrey Epstein, because his demands were insatiable.

The accuser, who testified in federal court in Manhattan under the pseudonym Kate, said she was 17 when she met Maxwell in Paris around 1994. She gave Maxwell her phone number, she said.

The Briton struck her as “very sophisticated and very elegant”, she said, adding: “She was very impressive … everything that I wanted to be.”

Epstein, a convicted sex offender whose associates included Prince Andrew and former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, killed himself in a New York City jail in August 2019, while awaiting his own sex-trafficking trial.

Maxwell, 59 and the daughter of the late British publishing baron Robert Maxwell, was arrested in July 2020 in New Hampshire, for her alleged role in Epstein’s sexual abuse of minor girls as young as 14. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Kate said Maxwell invited her over for tea, during which Maxwell talked about Epstein.

“She told me lots of amazing things about her boyfriend and that she said he was a philanthropist,” Kate said.

Maxwell introduced her to Epstein on another occasion not long thereafter and also at her London townhouse, Kate said. Maxwell called, she said, to say Epstein was in town and could she come over to meet him?

“She was very activated, very excited,” Kate said. “There was a sense of urgency.”

Maxwell told Epstein Kate was “very strong”, Kate said, before telling her: “Why don’t you give his feet a little squeeze to show him how strong you are?” Kate massaged Epstein’s feet, she said, and “he seemed to be very approving and said, ‘Go ahead, you can do my shoulders.’”

Then, in Kate’s telling, Epstein got a call and Maxwell ushered Kate out of the house. A couple weeks later, Maxwell called again.

“She said Jeffrey was meant to get a massage but the massage therapist had canceled. Could I do her a favor and come over … because I had strong hands,” Kate said.

Kate went to the townhouse, where, she said, Maxwell “said, ‘I’m really excited that you’re here.’ She said he needed massages all the time and it was very difficult to keep up.”

Maxwell, Kate said, led her upstairs into a room with a table in it. Epstein was in the room, wearing a robe, which he took off to be naked. Maxwell closed the door, Kate alleged, saying Epstein initiated sexual contact. Kate left the room, she said, and went downstairs, where she saw Maxwell.

“She said: how did it go? Did you have fun? Was it good? She seemed excited and happy.”

Maxwell allegedly invited Kate over again several days later: “She said, ‘I’m so glad you’re here. You did such a good job last time, he wanted you to come back.”

Kate said Maxwell led her upstairs again, to where Epstein was naked, said “‘Have a good time,’ and left.” Epstein engaged in sexual contact during the massage that followed, Kate said.

When Kate got downstairs, Maxwell allegedly said: “Did you have fun? You’re such a good girl. I’m so happy you were able to come.”

Kate also said she saw a girl at Maxwell’s house on that occasion who was “blonde and slim and around my age”.

“She was having tea with Ghislaine and telling Ghislaine about the things she was interested [in],” Kate said, alleging Maxwell said: “I think she would be a good fit for him.”

Maxwell, Kate said, would talk a lot about “boys, boys and their willies”.

“It was always like a schoolgirl,” Kate said, adding that she thought it “odd” and that Maxwell seemed to act younger than her when talking about men. Maxwell also “would ask me if I knew anybody who could come and give Jeffrey [oral sex] because it was a lot for her to do”, Kate alleged.

“She said, ‘You know what he likes: cute, young, pretty, like you.’ She said he needed to have sex about three times a day.”

Over the next several years, Kate said, she saw Epstein several times a year. When she was about 18 Maxwell flew her to Palm Beach, Florida. When Kate went into her room, she said, she saw a “schoolgirl outfit” on her bed. She asked Maxwell about it, she said.

“She said, ‘I thought it would be fun for you to take Jeffrey his tea in this outfit.”

Kate said she did, and he engaged in a sexual encounter.

Kate communicated with Epstein into her 30s, she said, as she was worried about what would happen if she stopped.

“I did not want to admit what had happened to me, and I thought that by [ceasing] communication, I would have to acknowledge the events that had taken place and would have to say something. I was also fearful of disengaging because I had witnessed how connected they both were.”

Maxwell told Kate “she was friends with Prince Andrew” and Donald Trump, Kate said. She did not accuse either man of wrongdoing.

“I remember what happened when I was 17 with Ghislaine and Jeffrey because those events come back to me all the time,” Kate testified later. “I have nightmares about them.”

Last week, an accuser named as “Jane” alleged Maxwell was sometimes present when Epstein abused her and that Maxwell sometimes participated. The alleged abuse, she said, started when she was 14.

Other accusers have alleged abuse under the guise of giving him a massage.

From: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/06/ghislaine-maxwell-sex-trafficking-trial-second-week