Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SCHOOLGIRL OUTFITS FOUND AT EPSTEIN’S MANSION IN FBI RAID
Maxwell trial told of ‘small’ costumes
SCHOOLGIRL outfits were found at Jeffrey Epstein’s New York mansion when the FBI raided it two years ago, a court heard yesterday.
The “small” costumes were on the same floor as the billionaire paedophile’s massage room, the trial of Epstein’s ex Ghislaine Maxwell was told.
The costumes were permitted into evidence by Judge Alison Nathan
It came as Epstein’s former butler told the trial how he heard “lots” of English accents at the paedophile’s Palm Beach home in Florida, where he allegedly abused dozens of underage girls.
Juan Alessi, 71, was giving evidence at the trial in New York, where Maxwell’s lawyer Jeffrey Pagliuca asked if a number of foreign people visited the property.
Mr Alessi agreed and said he had heard “English accents, French accents,
Italian accents”. The trial has already heard of at least three Brits who surrounded billionaire Epstein, including Prince Andrew and a woman known as “Emmy” who was Maxwell’s personal assistant.
Earlier Mr Alessi, who worked full-time for paedophile Epstein from 1991 to 2002, said he drove two girls – who he believed appeared underage – to the financier’s Palm Beach estate.
He said he saw the girls spend time with Epstein and Maxwell at the property, where he recalled cleaning sex toys from the massage room and storing them in Maxwell’s bathroom.
Mr Pagliuca also questioned Mr Alessi about his admission to stealing money from Epstein, which he admitted, calling it the “biggest mistake” of his life.
Maxwell, 59, denies eight counts of sex trafficking and other crimes, including two perjury charges that will be tried at a later date.
She has been held in a US jail since her arrest in July last year.
If convicted, she faces up to 70 years in prison.
Prosecutors accuse Maxwell of recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse, and say she participated in some of the encounters.
She is further alleged to have lied under oath by hiding her participation in Epstein’s offences during a separate civil case.
Maxwell’s lawyers claim she is being made a scapegoat for Epstein’s alleged crimes. The disgraced financier, 66, killed himself in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.
Mr Alessi’s account came after testimony earlier this week from one of the girls he said he saw at Epstein’s estate.
The woman, who is now in her early 40s and is testifying under the name Jane, said Maxwell set her up to be abused by Epstein in the mid-90s when she was just 14.
Maxwell’s lawyers questioned Jane about discrepancies between her testimony and earlier statements she made during interviews with law enforcement agents. They alleged her memories have become distorted over time.
Jane is the first of four Maxwell accusers expected to testify in court. The trial continues.