A man has testified at Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal sex abuse trial on Wednesday that he drove teen girls to the Florida mansion of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and saw them leave with hundred dollar bills.
Key points:
- Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers have said that her accusers’ memories have been corrupted
- A witness known as Shawn said he drove one of the accusers to Jeffrey Epstein’s home every two weeks
- He said she would leave with hundred dollar bills
The man — who identified himself as Shawn — testified that he had begun dating a woman named Carolyn in Florida when he was 17 and she was 14.
Carolyn, now in her mid-30s, testified on Tuesday that she had sexual encounters with Mr Epstein at his Palm Beach, Florida, home beginning when she was 14 in 2002.
Ms Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of sex trafficking and other charges for her alleged role in recruiting and grooming four girls, including Carolyn, for Mr Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.
The British socialite’s lawyers have said that her accusers’ memories have been corrupted over the years, and that Maxwell is being scapegoated for Mr Epstein’s alleged conduct.
In 2019, the globetrotting investor died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting his own sex abuse trial.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers argue she is only on trial because Epstein is dead.(AP: John Minchillo)
Carolyn’s evidence underlies Ms Maxwell’s sex trafficking charge, because she was allegedly paid for interactions with Mr Epstein, and allegedly received gifts from Ms Maxwell that were sent from a New York address to Carolyn’s home in Florida.
Carolyn said the encounters with Mr Epstein began as massages before escalating.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s third accuser testifies
A third woman who has accused Ghislaine Maxwell of grooming her …….