It was an emotional day at the sex-trafficking trial of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell as one of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims testified against Maxwell.
Taking the stand as “Jane” to protect her identity, the first victim to testify in Maxwell’s trial said she was 14 and frozen in fear during her first sexual encounter with Epstein.
She said she met Epstein and Maxwell in 1994 while eating ice cream at a summer arts camp in Michigan. She told a packed court that Maxwell befriended her and then would sometimes be in the room during the sexual abuse that went on for years.
“She seemed very casual, like it was normal,” She said, with Maxwell just a few feet away at the defense table. “But it did not seem normal to me.”
“Jane” fought back tears when she described flying from her Home in Palm Beach to New Mexico, where she said she saw Maxwell and was told Epstein wanted to see her.
“I felt my heart sinking into my stomach because I didn’t want to see him,” she said as her voice cracked.
Maxwell is charged with grooming underage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. She denies the charges.
Maxwell’s attorney has sought to portray “Jane” as merely out to collect money from Epstein’s victim fund.
Earlier on Tuesday, Epstein’s longtime pilot, Lawrence Viskoski Jr., testified that he flew powerful and famous men on Epstein’s private plane, including Prince Andrew, actor Kevin Spacey and former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
He said he never witnessed “any sexual activity.”
He also testified that Epstein introduced him to a young woman as they boarded, since identified as “Jane.” He described her as a mature woman.
She was a teenager at the time.
The defense will continue its cross examination of “Jane” on Wednesday.
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