UK police to review Epstein-Maxwell case 0:41
(CNN) -
The Ghislaine Maxwell trial is based primarily on the testimony of four women who claim to have been sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein when they were under 18 years old.
According to them, Maxwell facilitated and sometimes participated in that abuse as well.
Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to six federal charges: sex trafficking of minors, tempting a minor to travel to engage in illegal sexual acts, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and three counts of conspiracy. .
Who is Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's ex-partner who will go to trial
Prosecutors said in opening statements that Maxwell and Epstein created a system of sexual abuse, in which they lured underage girls to have sex with Epstein using the ruse of massage and cash payments.
Her defense, however, has argued that she is being the scapegoat for Epstein's actions.
His lawyers have also attacked the memories and motivations of women who say they were abused.
Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to state prostitution charges, was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019. But, he committed suicide in prison a month later.
Maxwell was arrested after a year.
Jeffrey Epstein case: what is Ghislaine Maxwell accused of?
3:26
How difficult will the trial against Ghislaine Maxwell be?
CNN legal analyst and former prosecutor Paul Callan explained that Epstein's death and all the time that has passed represents a great challenge for prosecutors in this case.
The government maintains that the abuses occurred between 1994 and 2004.
"Demonstrating cases of sexual abuse and rape from decades ago is usually an extraordinarily difficult task," Callan said.
"The evidence in cases where children are involved is even more difficult. Children's memories are often unreliable and malleable."
Callan noted that he hopes Maxwell's defense will present an expert witness to convince the jury that such testimony is inherently unreliable.
The defense is scheduled to start his case on Thursday.
Woman testifies that Ghislane Maxwell said Jeffrey Epstein needed to have sex three times a day
On Friday, the government finished presenting its indictment after prosecutors called 24 witnesses over 10 days of testimony.
"Despite substantial obstacles, prosecutors finished strongly" with Annie Farmer, the fourth and final woman Maxwell charged with taking the stand, who provided "vivid testimony," Callan noted.
"Ultimately, an indictment that started weakly came to a strong conclusion," Callan added.
The testimony of the victims began on November 30 with "Jane", who said that Maxwell sometimes joined in the sexualized massages.
"Kate" testified on December 6 that Maxwell organized those sexual gatherings.
Carolyn testified the next day that Maxwell once touched her breasts, hips and butt and told her that "she had a great body for Epstein and his friends."
She was 14 at the time, she said.
Finally, Farmer testified Friday that he was 16 when Maxwell massaged his bare chest at Epstein's ranch in New Mexico in 1996.
This is a detailed summary of what these women recounted under oath.
What "Jane" Said Against Maxwell
In this sketch, Ghislaine Maxwell, seated left, speaks with her defense attorney on Monday, December 6. (Credit: Elizabeth Williams via AP)
A woman identified in court by the pseudonym "Jane" testified last week that she met Maxwell and Epstein in 1994 when she was 14 years old, at a camp where he was a benefactor.
She and her mother met Epstein for tea in Florida and he said he could be her mentor.
Then she started going to Epstein's house alone.
At first, Maxwell and Epstein made her feel special: They spent time with her, asked her about her family and interests, and took her out to do fun things, she said.
For the first few months, Maxwell was like a big sister, she said.
"That changed when the abuse started," he said.
Jane described in explicit detail incidents of sexual abuse with Epstein that Maxwell was sometimes involved in, both in Palm Beach, Florida, and in Manhattan when he was 14, 15 and 16 years old.
At times, Epstein would masturbate on top of her and grope her, she said.
Maxwell sometimes got involved, touching her and Epstein, she testified.
At least once, Maxwell "taught" her how Epstein liked to be massaged while the three of them were in his massage room, she recounted.
"It seemed very casual, like it was very normal, like it wasn't a big deal," he said.
"It confused me because that didn't seem normal to me."
She also said it took years for her to be able to tell someone what happened, explaining that she felt "shame, disgust and confusion."
During cross-examination, defense attorneys reviewed their statements to authorities since 2019 to try to show inconsistencies with their testimony in court.
In the remarks, Jane told security officials that she was not sure whether Maxwell had ever touched her and that she did not recall that Maxwell had been present at any sexual activity between her and Epstein.
Jane repeatedly testified that she did not remember whether she had told investigators that.
On other occasions, Jane testified that the authorities' notes on those interviews were inaccurate, inconsistent with her chronology of events and with an inaccurate transcript of her statements, which were not recorded.
What "Kate" said
Prosecutors presented this photo of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein as evidence.
"Kate" testified Monday that she met Maxwell through an older boyfriend she had at 17.
Maxwell invited her to tea at his London home and told Kate about Epstein and then invited her back to meet him, he said in testimony.
There, Maxwell asked him to give Epstein a little "squeeze" on Epstein's foot to show him how strong he was, despite his small frame, Kate recounted.
Epstein approved of the foot massage and also had her massage his shoulders.
A couple of weeks later, Maxwell called Kate to ask if she would do "a favor" and give Epstein a massage, even though she had no experience in massage therapy.
Maxwell led Kate to the second floor of his townhouse to a bedroom where Epstein was in a robe, gave Kate massage oil, and closed the door behind her.
Epstein got naked and began a sexual act with her, he said.
Maxwell called her a second time for another meeting with Epstein.
"She said, 'I'm so glad you're here. You did such a good job the last time he wanted you back,'" Kate said.
This time, Epstein was naked when Maxwell led Kate into the same room and closed the door behind her.
"Have a good time," Maxwell said as he left the room, according to testimony.
In her narration, Kate testified that she traveled at Epstein's expense several times to New York;
Palm Beach, Florida;
and Little St. James, in the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned property.
Maxwell invited her to Epstein's private island for massages and briefed Kate on the travel arrangements, she said.
During a visit to the Palm Beach residence when she was about 18 years old, a "schoolgirl" outfit - a pleated skirt, white panties, white socks and a shirt - was left on her bed, according to her testimony.
When he asked Maxwell what it was for, she replied, "I thought it would be fun for you to bring Jeffrey tea in this outfit," Kate testified.
Maxwell often discussed sexual issues with Kate and asked her if she knew of other girls who could give Epstein oral sex.
"She said he needed to have sex about three times a day," Kate said.
"You know what she likes: cute, young (and) pretty like you," Maxwell said, according to testimony.
Woman states that Ghislaine Maxwell told her she "had a great body for Epstein and his friends."
She was 14 years old
Bill Clinton and Trump reportedly flew Epstein's private plane 1:00
Kate said she stayed in contact with Epstein until around 2012. She was about 24 years old when she last traveled with Maxwell and Epstein, but she continued in contact with Epstein until she was 30, she testified.
She described staying in contact with him as a mixture of denial and fear.
"I did not want to admit what had happened to me and I felt that by cutting off the communication I would have to acknowledge the events that had happened and I would have to say something," he said.
"I was also afraid to walk away because I had witnessed how connected the two of them were and I was afraid."
Kate is not considered a minor victim on the charges because she was over the age of consent at the time of the alleged abuse, but jurors could still consider her testimony, Judge Alison Nathan ruled.
What Carolyn Said at the Maxwell Trial
Prosecutors said Maxwell conspired with Epstein to create a trafficking ring for underage girls.
Carolyn, who testified Tuesday using only her first name, said she was 14 when she started going to Epstein's Palm Beach home two to three times a week in the early 2000s.
On one visit, Carolyn was setting up a massage room for him when Maxwell entered the room.
Maxwell touched her breasts, hips and butt, and commented that she "had a great body for Epstein and his friends," according to her testimony.
Carolyn said she went to Epstein's house more than a hundred times in all.
Every time she visited, they would leave her $ 300 in cash in the bathroom sink, she said.
"Something sexual happened every time," Carolyn said.
She said she remembered bringing three different friends her age with her over the years.
On those occasions, she would receive $ 600 in cash as an incentive for bringing them in, and her friends would receive $ 300.
Carolyn described various sexual encounters with Epstein.
She also said Maxwell saw her naked in the massage room "probably three times" over the years.
Maxwell and Epstein separately invited her to go to an island, but she told them she was too young and that her mother would not let her travel out of the country, she testified.
She didn't have a passport either.
Sometimes Maxwell or another Epstein associate would call her to make an "appointment," Carolyn testified.
Other times she would call to ask if she could come because she wanted the money, she said.
She testified that Maxwell and her partner called her at her mother's or boyfriend's phone numbers if they couldn't reach her.
He said he used the money to buy drugs.
Defense attorney Jeffrey Pagliuca questioned Carolyn for more than two hours Tuesday and spent considerable time suggesting that Carolyn made inconsistent statements about her timeline, including a 2007 FBI meeting and a 2009 due diligence on the lawsuits she filed. against Epstein.
Carolyn sobbed when prosecutor Maurene Comey asked her if she was trying to get money for her testimony.
"No, money will never fix what that woman has done to me," Carolyn said.
"Because what he did was wrong and he takes vulnerable girls and traffics them, and I am so petrified that my daughters are trafficked."
What Annie Farmer Said
Annie Farmer, who testified under her full name, has spoken publicly about Epstein and Maxwell for years.
He testified at Epstein's public bond hearing in 2019 and Maxwell's bond hearing a year later.
She testified for three hours on Friday, being the fourth and last woman to accuse Maxwell of doing so.
His older sister worked for Epstein and Farmer met him during the 1995 Christmas season. Epstein paid for his commercial flight to New York and in a movie held her hand and stroked her foot, he said in court.
She described going to the billionaires' ranch in New Mexico in 1996 at age 16, where she thought she would join other young women, but she was the only teenager there.
At that location, Maxwell told her to undress and gave her a massage, saying he wanted her to experience a professional massage, Farmer testified.
At some point, while lying on her back, Maxwell pulled the sheet down, exposing her bare breasts, and rubbed her chest and upper chest, Farmer testified.
"Once the sheet was pulled down, I was a little paralyzed," she testified.
"It didn't make sense to me for that to happen. I desperately wanted to get up from the table and finish that massage once and for all."
On her last day at the ranch, Epstein walked into her room where she was still in bed telling him that he wanted to "snuggle" with her.
"He got on the bed with me and lay down behind me and put his arms around me and pressed his body against me," he said.
Feeling uncomfortable, she made up an excuse to get out of bed and went to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
Farmer said that while they were in New Mexico they went to see the movie "Primal Fear," where Epstein went back to fondling her in a more "cheeky" way, apparently making no effort to hide it from Maxwell, he recalled.
Later that day, Maxwell insisted on teaching Farmer how to massage Epstein's bare feet, Farmer testified.
During questioning, Farmer acknowledged that Maxwell was not in the room when Epstein got into his bed.
Additionally, defense attorney Laura Menninger repeatedly noted that Maxwell was not present on Farmer's trip to New York.
Menninger suggested that Farmer exaggerated what he claims happened to him in his public statements and in his application for the Epstein Victim Compensation Program for personal gain.
- CNN's Brian Vitagliano and Steve Almasy contributed to this report.
Ghislaine maxwell
