Evidence at the Maxwell trial: a massage table, unfolded in the court

NEW YORK >> A green, folding massage table used by financier Jeffrey Epstein was brought into a Manhattan courtroom and set up in front of a jury on Friday to bolster allegations he teamed up with British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell to sexually exploit underage victims.

The theatrical flourish in federal court in Manhattan, courtesy of an investigator wearing rubber gloves, was meant to corroborate testimony from a key accuser at Maxwell’s ongoing sex-abuse trial alleging massages were used as a pretense for the sexual encounters with Epstein that sometimes included Maxwell.

A witness who said the abuse started when she was 14 described seeing a massage table in a “massage room” that police say was in the same location where they recovered one at Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, mansion in 2005.

A police officer testified that investigators also seized records, computers and sex toys — a photo of which was shown to the jury — from the residence.

Prosecutors showed jurors a police videotape of the residence that captured images of nude photos on the walls — decor that federal prosecutors claim is proof of a sexualized atmosphere encouraged by Maxwell to put pressure on the victims.

The evidence was presented over defense objections calling it prejudicial. Defense attorney Bobbi Sternheim accused prosecutors of trying to unfairly depict Epstein’s home as a “domicile of debauchery.”

Prosecutors have alleged the British socialite groomed teen girls by taking them on shopping trips and movie outings, talking to them about their lives and encouraging them to accept financial help from Epstein.