Ghislaine Maxwell participated in sexual encounters with Epstein, accuser testifies

A woman who says she was sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein at 14 years old told jurors on Tuesday at Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal trial that the British socialite facilitated and participated in some sexual encounters.

The woman, known by the pseudonym Jane, took the stand for the government on the second day of Maxwell's sex abuse trial in Manhattan federal court.

During cross-examination, a lawyer for Maxwell questioned Jane, now in her early 40s, about how she did not report the alleged abuse until decades after it occurred.

Maxwell, 59, faces sex trafficking and other charges. Prosecutors say she recruited and groomed Jane and three other underage girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges.

Maxwell has pleaded not guilty, and her lawyers have said she is being scapegoated because Epstein is no longer alive.

They have said Jane and the other alleged victims, who are also expected to testify at the trial, have faulty memories and financial incentives to accuse Maxwell.