‘THEY LURED ME’
Ghislaine accuser’s tale of abuse
The fourth and final accuser in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-abuse trial took the stand Friday, telling jurors how the alleged madam gave her a nude massage and groped her as a teen at Jeffrey Epstein’s New Mexico ranch.
Annie Farmer — the only accuser to testify using her full name — said she was lured to the ranch after meeting Epstein through her sister months earlier because she thought the duo viewed her as a “student they may want to help.”
Prosecutors rested their case later Friday after Farmer’s testimony. Maxwell’s legal team is expected to put on a short defense case starting Thursday.
Farmer said she was comfortable going to the ranch in part because Maxwell was there and she understood her to be Epstein’s girlfriend.
When she was at the sprawling estate, Epstein and Maxwell took her shopping, bought her a pricey pair of cowboy boots and took her to see the movie “Primal Fear.”
While they were waiting to go into the movie, Epstein and Maxwell “were being very playful with each other, kind of grabbing each other,” Farmer told Assistant US Attorney Lara Pomerantz.
Maxwell then pulled Epstein’s pants down “a little bit” in front of Farmer, she added.
During the movie, Epstein caressed Farmer’s leg and foot and held her hand as he sat in between her and Maxwell, she said.
Later on the trip, Maxwell taught her how to massage Epstein’s feet and eventually asked her if she wanted a massage.
Maxwell set up a massage table in the room where Farmer was staying and asked her to strip nude, she said.
“She started rubbing my body, rubbing my back and my legs. She was making small talk, then at some point she had me roll over so I was laying on my back,” said Farmer, who was 16 at the time.
“She pulled the sheet down and exposed my breasts. She started rubbing on my chest and on my
upper breasts,” she said, adding that she felt “frozen” during the rubdown. “I wanted so badly to get off the table and have this massage be done,” she said.
The door to the room was open during the massage, and Farmer said she could “sense” Epstein could see her but did not recall him specifically looking at her as Maxwell touched her.
On cross-examination, Maxwell defense attorney Laura Menninger sought to downplay the
sexual nature of the massage and asked Farmer if Maxwell touched her nipples during the massage.
She responded that Maxwell did not, but Farmer noted being fully exposed.
Maxwell is accused of grooming young women and girls to be abused by Epstein at his estates in Manhattan, New Mexico and Florida. She has denied the charges, and her lawyers have argued that she is being scapegoated for Epstein’s crimes after the convicted pedophile killed himself behind bars in 2019.