Visoski also acknowledged that ex-President Bill Clinton was a passenger on a few flights in the 2000s and he had piloted planes with Britain’s Prince Andrew, the late U.S.
Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr., the trial’s first witness, acknowledged that he never encountered sexual activity aboard two jets he piloted for roughly 1,000 trips between 19.Īlthough he was a government witness, Visoski’s testimony seemed to aid the defense of Maxwell as he told Maxwell attorney Christian Everdell that he never saw sexual activity when he left the cockpit for coffee or a bathroom break and never found sex toys or used condoms when he cleaned up.Īnd when he was asked if he ever saw sex acts with underage females, he answered: “Absolutely not.” One of her lawyers said in an opening statement Monday that she’s being made a scapegoat for Epstein, who killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell at age 66 in 2019 as he awaited a sex trafficking trial.Įarlier Tuesday, a former pilot for Epstein testified that he never saw evidence of sexual activity on planes as he flew his boss and others - including a prince and ex-presidents - for nearly three decades. The cross-examination was expected to continue Wednesday. Menninger also elicited testimony from the woman that she was awarded $5 million from a fund set up to compensate victims of Epstein and received $2.9 million once lawyer fees and expenses were deducted.
“I don’t know,” the witness responded, adding she only remembered being uncomfortable with going into all the details. “You never mentioned Ghislaine Maxwell?” the lawyer asked. Menninger also asked if it was true she had previously spoken to her siblings and others close to her about Epstein’s behavior, but left Maxwell out of the earlier accounts. On cross-examination, defense lawyer Laura Menninger immediately attacked the witness’s credibility, asking why she waited over 20 years to report the alleged abuse by Maxwell to law enforcement and why she brought two personal injury lawyers along to her first meeting with the FBI. Other encounters involved sex toys or turned into oral sex “orgies” with other young women and Maxwell, she added. “There were hands everywhere and Jeffrey proceeded to masturbate again,” she said.
… I was terrified and felt gross and felt ashamed.”Īnother time, she was taken to a massage room where he and Maxwell both took advantage of her, she said. Then he pulled down his pants, pulled her close and “proceeded to masturbate,” she said. The cycle of abuse started when Epstein abruptly took her by hand one day and said, “Follow me,” before taking her to a pool house at the home. Soon, Epstein and Maxwell were taking her shopping for clothes, including underwear from Victoria’s Secret, and asking about her life after her father’s sudden death in a way that didn’t happen at home, where soul-searching conversations never occurred, she said. The woman and her mother soon received an invitation to Epstein’s home and although her mother was not included in subsequent invites, she remained “very impressed and enamored with the wealth, the affluence,” and believed Maxwell and Epstein must really think her daughter was special, the woman testified. They discovered that they both lived in Palm Beach, Florida, she said. After her friends left, she spoke with Epstein, who had then arrived and introduced himself as a donor. She said she was eating ice cream with friends when Maxwell approached with a Yorkshire Terrier, drawing their attention. The witness first met Epstein and Maxwell in 1994 when she was attending a music camp in pursuit of a singing career, she said. The witness’ testimony was offered by prosecutors to support their claims that Maxwell recruited and groomed girls for Epstein to sexually abuse from 1994 to at least 2004.
Some jurors leaned forward to hear the witness while occasionally glancing at Maxwell. Maxwell maintained a steady gaze in the witness’s direction, occasionally writing notes that she passed to lawyers. She also largely avoided looking at Maxwell, except when she pointed an index finger when she was asked to identify her.
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She said Maxwell instructed her on how to give Epstein sexual massages and sometimes physically participated. The witness testified in a quiet but steady voice, although she got choked up twice and also dabbed at her nose with a tissue as she described the sexual encounters. During sexual encounters that began in 1994 and continued through 1997, Maxwell “was very casual,” she told a New York City jury.