Globe2Go, the digital newspaper replica of The Globe and Mail

DEFENCE QUESTIONS FORMER EPSTEIN EMPLOYEE AT MAXWELL’S SEX-ABUSE TRIAL

NEW YORK Ghislaine Maxwell’s defence lawyers on Friday questioned a former Jeffrey Epstein employee about when he met a woman who testified earlier this week that the British socialite set her up for abuse by Mr. Epstein starting when she was 14 in 1994.

Juan Alessi, who worked full-time at Mr. Epstein’s Palm Beach estate from 1991 to 2002, said at Ms. Maxwell’s sex-abuse trial in Manhattan federal court that he saw two girls who appeared underage spend time with Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell. He said one of those girls was Jane, the woman who testified this week.

Ms. Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of sex trafficking and other crimes. Prosecutors accuse Ms. Maxwell of recruiting and grooming underage girls for Mr. Epstein to abuse, and say she participated in some of the encounters.

Mr. Alessi said on Thursday he met Jane in 1994, the same year Jane said she met Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell and was first abused. He said Jane appeared to be 14 or 15 when he first saw her at the Florida property. But upon cross-examination by the British socialite’s lawyer, Jeffrey Pagliuca, during the fifth day of testimony on Friday, Mr. Alessi said he could not recall precisely which year he met her in. Mr. Pagliuca then asked whether Alessi met Jane in 1998 or 2000 – when she could have been of legal age to consent.

“No, that’s not true,” Mr. Alessi said.

NEWS

en-ca

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281784222378780

Globe and Mail