Johanna Sjoberg Witness whose testimony dominates files

Johanna Sjoberg has long been known as one of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims, and her claims that Prince Andrew fondled her breast sent shockwaves through Buckingham Palace when they emerged in a newspaper interview.

But it was her testimony in unsealed documents on Wednesday night that offered a fresh glimpse into the late financier’s network of friends.

From Donald Trump to Bill Clinton, Ms Sjoberg’s testimony revealed that Epstein would name-drop prominent figures as he took her on trips from Florida to New York.

According to one document, Ms Sjoberg claimed Michael Jackson visited Epstein’s Palm Beach home. Not all of those named are accused of wrongdoing.

In a witness statement, Ms Sjoberg, now 42, alleged she sat on a sofa with the Duke, his accuser Virginia Giuffre and a Spitting Image puppet of him given to him by convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell.

“I sat on Andrew’s lap, and I believe on my own volition, and they took the puppet’s hands and put it on Virginia’s breast, and so Andrew put his on mine,” she claimed.

Ms Sjoberg said the alleged incident took place at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion around Easter of 2001, adding it was in a “joking manner”.

She called the Duke “charming” but had not recognised him until she saw a tag on the puppet.

Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. In her deposition, Maxwell denied giving the Duke such a puppet.

She said: “I never gave him a gift of a puppet. I am not aware of any small handheld puppet that was there.

“There was a puppet – not a puppet – there was a – I don’t know how would you describe it really. A caricature of that was in Jeffrey’s home.” maxwell also said that she did not “recollect” putting the hand of the “caricature” on someone’s breast.