A ‘recruiter’ at 17
‘Tasked’ by Max to find girls
A British former model took the stand on Monday to detail how Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly lured her into Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit at age 17 and asked her to recruit other girls to give him oral sex.
The woman, identified only as “Kate,” testified at Maxwell’s federal sex-trafficking trial in Manhattan that the British socialite introduced her to Epstein at Maxwell’s London townhouse in the early 1990s and persuaded her to give him a sexual massage soon after.
Maxwell tried to get Kate to recruit others to give the pedophile oral sex, telling her that he liked “cute, young, pretty” girls, “like you,” according to the witness
“She would ask me if I knew anybody to come and give Jeffrey a blowjob because it was a lot for her to do,” Kate recalled.
The witness, now 44, said the duo promised to help her music career and bragged about the powerful people they knew, including Prince Andrew and Donald Trump.
The testimony came on the same day the jury saw bank statements that showed some $30 million transferred from Epstein’s accounts to Maxwell’s between 1999 and 2007, including about $7 million used to buy a helicopter.
Kate, who says she now works with women who suffer from trauma or substance abuse, testified that she cut off contact with the late sex offender in her early 30s, after she became a mother.
Before the witness took the stand, Judge Alison Nathan cautioned jurors that Kate was not a victim of the crimes Maxwell was charged with, since she was above the age of consent during her sexual contact with Epstein.
Kate described how Maxwell allegedly got her to give Epstein massages at the accused madam’s London apartment when she was 17.
The massage sessions turned sexual, taking place a few more times in London, as well as at Epstein’s home in Palm Beach, Fla., and on his private island, when Kate was in her early 20s.
Kate recalled that the first time she saw Epstein naked, Maxwell was standing next to her.
“I remember it so clearly because I was terrified and frozen,” she told the jury. But to Maxwell, Kate added, “everything seemed to be like a fun, silly joke.”
Over the course of her involvement with Epstein and Maxwell, Kate said, she began abusing cocaine and sleeping pills.
Kate resisted cutting herself off from the pair, she said, “because I had witnessed how connected they both were and I was fearful.”
On cross-examination, defense attorney Bobbi Sternheim noted
that when Epstein was jailed in Florida years ago, Kate had asked to visit him and signed her correspondence to him “love always.”
She also noted Kate previously spoke out about Epstein and Maxwell using her real name.
Kate said she was testifying anonymously to protect her daughter and because “I have a huge amount of humiliation and shame around the events that took place.”