Author: Tom Hayes | Associated Press
NEW YORK-On Friday, the green folding massage bed used by financier Jeffrey Epstein was taken to a Manhattan courtroom and set up in front of a jury to support him and the British socialite Gislain Maxwell (Ghislaine Maxwell) Cooperating on allegations of sexual exploitation of minor victims.
The theater performance in Manhattan Federal Court was provided by an investigator wearing rubber gloves to confirm the testimony of a major accuser in Maxwell’s ongoing sexual abuse trial, saying that massage was used as an excuse for sexual contact with Epstein , Sometimes including Maxwell.
An eyewitness said that the abuse began when she was 14 years old. She described seeing a massage bed in a "massage room." The police said that the massage bed was found in a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2005. The location of a massage table is the same.
A police officer testified that investigators also confiscated records, computers and sex toys from the residence-one of the photos was shown to the jury.
The prosecutor showed the jurors a police videotape of the residence, which showed nude photos on the wall-federal prosecutors claimed that this decoration proved Maxwell's sexy atmosphere in encouraging pressure on the victim.
The evidence was presented with objections from the defense, calling it biased. Defense lawyer Bobbi Sternheim accused prosecutors of trying to unfairly describe Epstein's home as a "slutty residence."
The prosecutor accused the British socialite of nurturing young girls by taking them to go shopping and watching movies, talking with them about their lives, and encouraging them to accept Epstein's financial help. The government also stated that she helped create an atmosphere full of sex by talking to girls about sex and instructing them to perform so-called Epstein sex massages.
The 59-year-old Maxwell denied the charges against her. Her lawyer said that prosecutors were pursuing her because they could not try Epstein, who committed suicide in prison before being tried. She is Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and later became an employee.
The plaintiff used a pseudonym "Jane" to protect her privacy and testified earlier this week that when she visited Epstein's home for the first time, she was troubled by "some paintings of naked women or semi-naked women." In the massage room next to the master bedroom shared by Epstein and Maxwell, the couple "show me, you know, what he likes, what-you know what men like, what women like."
Related article The prosecution depends on the sexual abuse trial against Ghislaine Maxwell. The accuser told the court: "I told her I am 14 years old." The British woman testified that Ghislaine Maxwell's dressing up Ghislaine Maxwell defended against attacking the account of the accuser of the actor, the first of the 4 accusers The trial at Ghislaine Maxwell was also on Friday. Juan Patricio Alessi, the former Epstein butler, returned to the witness stand and was cross-examined because his testimony was "Jane" and another accused love. The woman Perstein sexually abused her as a teenager was a frequent visitor to the Palm Beach mansion, and Maxwell was the "lady of the house."
One of Maxwell’s lawyers tried to discredit Alessi—he worked for Epstein from 1990 to 2002—by presenting him with testimony in a civil case, which the defense claimed was inconsistent with his trial testimony.
Alessi claimed on Friday that none of the many young women who visited his home in Florida had reminded him of any wrongdoing.
"I hope they will do this because I will do something," he said.
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