Maxwell ‘told teen to have a good time with naked Epstein’
GHISLAINE Maxwell invited a 17-year-old girl to her London home where she was told to “have a good time” after finding Jeffrey Epstein on a massage table inside, a court has heard.
The British socialite namedropped she was a friend of Prince Andrew to the British girl, known as “Kate”, jurors at Lower Manhattan Court heard.
As the second week of Maxwell’s trial began in New York yesterday, Judge Alison Nathan instructed jurors that “Kate” was not an alleged victim of the crimes charged in Maxwell’s indictment.
Maxwell, 59, is a former girlfriend of Epstein, and facing eight charges – including six counts of enticing minors and sex trafficking – all of which she denies.
The judge said the witness Kate was above the age of consent when she met Maxwell and Wall Street financier Epstein.
Epstein committed suicide in August 2019 while in jail facing child sex charges.
Kate testified she met Maxwell in Paris in the early 1990s when she was 17 years old and the Briton invited her to her London home.
The witness said Maxwell told her Epstein was a philanthropist who liked to help young people – and she “was exactly the kind of person that he would help”.
Kate said: “She (Maxwell) seemed very exciting. She seemed to be everything I wanted to be.”
On meeting the financier in London, Kate said she was led up the stairs by Maxwell after being asked to massage Epstein. His usual therapist, she was told, had cancelled.
Kate said that at one point, after she opened the massage room door to reveal Epstein, the socialite told her to “have a good time”. The witness said that, underneath his robe, the billionaire was naked. She said after the massage – which included sex acts initiated by Epstein – Maxwell told her she was “such a good girl”.
“She sounded really pleased,” Kate added.
She testified she was later asked by Maxwell if she could find someone to perform a sex act on Epstein. She was told Epstein needed sex three times a day.
Kate said Maxwell said to her: “You know what he likes. Cute, young, pretty – like you.” The witness, now 44, told the court how the Brit, the daughter of disgraced tycoon Robert Maxwell, would consistently namedrop people she knew, telling the court: “She seemed to know everybody.”
She said: “She was friends with Prince Andrew, friends with Donald Trump. Sometimes their names would just come up or she would be talking on the phone about them with me present.”
Kate testified she was once given a schoolgirl outfit to wear when seeing Epstein in his Palm Beach home in Florida.
Asked why she wore it, the former singer and musician replied: “I didn’t know how to say no to that. I didn’t know anybody in Florida.
“I had never been to Palm Beach or Florida before. I wasn’t sure if I said no if I would have to leave or what consequence there would be for not doing it.”
Maxwell, she said, told her she was “one of his favourites”.
At one point the prosecution asked: “What gifts did you receive from Maxwell?” She replied: “A small black Prada bag for my 18th birthday.”
“After sex with Epstein?” she was asked. “Yes, after,” said the woman, who now works with victims of trauma.
When cross-examined, Kate admitted she was once addicted to cocaine, alcohol and sleeping pills, which the defence claimed had affected her memory.
She denied that, saying: “The memories that I have of significant events of my life have never changed.”
The woman, wearing a black cardigan, a dark blue blouse with white polka dots and a black skirt, is a prosecution witness.
During cross-examination, Maxwell’s lawyer Bobbi Sternheim asked Kate about her family and career as an “international model”.
Her mother was a beautiful “debutante” and her stepfather was very wealthy and lived in Belgravia in central London, the court heard.
She confirmed she modelled, including for lingerie companies, and dated a prominent Oxford classmate of Maxwell.
Kate had moved to the US on an “extraordinary ability” visa as a
‘You know what he likes… cute, young, pretty – like you’
‘The memories I have of events have never changed’
musician. She admitted to having a drug addiction for 10 years and previously speaking with Virginia Giuffre, who has filed a civil case in New York claiming Prince Andrew abused her.
The Prince has consistently denied all allegations.
Kate acknowledged emailing Epstein when he was once in prison for soliciting a minor for prostitution. She signed off one correspondence: “Best, love always.”
Kate said she stopped having contact with Epstein when she became a mother.
The trial continues.