The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Epstein employee said he drove teen girls to house under Maxwell’ s orders
The former housekeeper of Jeffrey Epstein has told a court he drove two underage girls to the disgraced financier’s house under instructions from Ghislaine Maxwell.
Juan Patricio Alessi said yesterday that he picked up one of Maxwell’s alleged victims, who gave evidence under the pseudonym “Jane”, and the Duke of York’s accuser Virginia Roberts, to bring them to Epstein’s Palm Beach estate when they appeared to be around 14-15 years old.
The 72-year-old witness told jurors he saw Jane’s contact details in Epstein’s telephone directory listed under masseuses.
The witness was handed a 58-page booklet on how 59-year-old Maxwell expected staff to behave and carry out their duties, including an order to “unless otherwise instructed, never disclose Mr Epstein and Ms Maxwell’s activities or whereabouts to anyone”.
The British socialite, described as the “lady of the house” by Mr Alessi, is accused of preying on vulnerable young girls and luring them to massage rooms to be molested by Epstein between 1994 and 2004.
The witness told jurors he had seen “many, many, many females” at Epstein’s Palm Beach house and “75, 80%” of those spending time at his pool were topless when visiting.
Earlier yesterday, the witness told the court Maxwell ordered staff not to look in Epstein’s eyes when they spoke to him.
Asked by Assistant United States Attorney Maurene Comey how many females he had seen at Epstein’s Palm Beach house, Mr Alessi said: “Many, many, many females.”
“About how many times did you see the female guests by the pool?”
“Many, many times. Hundreds of times.”
“What percentage of those times were these females topless?” “75%, 80% probably.” Mr Alessi then told jurors about the booklet he received from Ms Maxwell towards the end of his employment.
He said: “It was, I’m sorry to say, very degrading to me.
“Most of the pages were just unbelievable to me.”
Mr Alessi said the booklet gave staff a number of instructions, including how to address Epstein and how to dress themselves.
The witness was then presented with a more recent version of the booklet titled the “household manual”.
“How many, if any, young females do you remember seeing at Mr Epstein’s house?”
“Just two females that appeared to be underage to me.”
“How did you meet Jane?”
“I met Jane the first time she came to the house at Palm Beach with her mother.
“She was introduced by Ms Maxwell.”
“When you first met Jane how old was she?”
“I would say 14-15.” “About how many times do you remember seeing Jane at the house with her mother?”
“I remember at least three times.”
Mr Alessi said while at the Palm Beach house, Jane would spend her time with either Epstein or Ms Maxwell.
He continued: “I was told to pick her up either by Ms Maxwell or Mr Epstein.”
“Where do you remember picking her up?”
“I remember picking her up from school... and I picked up Jane from her house.”
Maxwell, who has been held in a US jail since her arrest last year, denies all charges.
The trial continues.