A witness in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial went over the line Tuesday as she tried to explain the damage done by the abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell is on trial over allegations that she procured underage girls for Epstein. Epstein was under arrest for alleged sex trafficking when he died in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell.
On Tuesday, an alleged Epstein victim, who used only the name Carolyn in her testimony, was being grilled by defense attorney Jeffrey Pagliuca about drug use at Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, mansion, according to live-tweeting of her testimony by Inner City Press, which covers the federal district court for the Southern District of New York.
“Ghislaine Maxwell fondled me and broke my soul,” Carolyn said in response to a question from Pagliuca.
Pagliuca wanted the comment stricken.
Judge Alison Nathan agreed.
Carolyn: What does any of this have to do with what I’m here for today? Ghislaine Maxwell fondled me and broke my soul —
Pagliuca: Move to strike.
Judge Nathan: Carolyn, you have to follow my rules. Jury will disregard.— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) December 7, 2021
Earlier, Carolyn said Virginia Giuffre – who has publicly accused Epstein and Maxwell of luring her into their web – introduced her to Epstein and Maxwell when the witness was 14 years old, according to The Guardian.
Carolyn is now in her 30s, according to CNN.
“Virginia asked me if I wanted to come make money,” Carolyn said, according to The Guardian.
“Did Virginia tell you what you had to do to make that money?” prosecutor Maurene Comey asked.
“Not right away,” Carolyn said.
She said that on her first visit, they were greeted by Maxwell. Giuffre introduced Carolyn as a “friend,” the witness said, according to The Guardian.
“What did Maxwell say?” Comey asked.
“You can bring her upstairs and show her what to do.”
She said they went through the mansion until they reached a room used by Epstein for massages.
“Virginia had taken off her clothes and she asked me if I would be comfortable taking off mine and I told her I would like to keep my bra and underwear on,” Carolyn testified, according to The Guardian.
She said that she watched Epstein get a massage and then have sex with Giuffre.
Carolyn said she was paid $300 that day
Carolyn, who sobbed at times during her testimony, testified that she went to Epstein’s house “over 100” times between the ages of 14 and 18. She said she needed money for drugs.
“Marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, anything that could block out … the appointment.”
Although she was scheduled to give massages to Epstein, “Something sexual happened every single time,” Carolyn said, according to The New York Times.
Carolyn said Maxwell touched her at one point.
“I was upstairs setting up the massage table and at that point I was kind of comfortable because I’d been there so many times,” she said, according to The Guardian, adding that Maxwell told her “that I had a great body for Mr. Epstein and his friends. She just said that I had a good body type.”
She rejected a defense contention that she was out to make money off of her claims.
According to CNN, Carolyn received almost $450,000 in settlements from lawsuits against Epstein after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
“No. Money would not ever fix what that woman has done to me,” she said of Maxwell, according to The Guardian. “What she did was wrong … I’m so petrified for my daughters.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
