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Which specific Epstein victims testified at Ghislaine Maxwell's 2021 trial and what did each say on the record?
Executive summary
Four women — identified at trial as “Jane,” “Kate,” “Carolyn,” and Annie Farmer — testified for the prosecution at Ghislaine Maxwell’s December 2021 criminal trial in Manhattan, describing how they say Maxwell helped recruit, groom and sometimes participated in sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein (trial focused on four of more than 100 alleged victims) [1] [2]. Each gave distinct on-the-record accounts: “Jane” said the abuse began at 14 and that Maxwell sometimes was present and instructed massages [3] [4]; “Kate” described Maxwell arranging meetings and talking about Epstein’s sexual needs [5]; “Carolyn” testified she was abused from about age 14 and that Maxwell sometimes entered the room and touched her [6]; Annie Farmer said Maxwell gave her a nude massage at 16 and that gifts and recruitment lures were used [1] [7].
1. Who testified: the four the prosecution chose to put on the stand
Prosecutors Lara Pomerantz and Audrey Strauss narrowed a much larger pool to four accusers whose testimony the jury heard: a woman called “Jane” (Minor Victim‑1 in the indictment), “Kate,” “Carolyn” (a pseudonym), and Annie Farmer — the quartet formed the core of the victim testimony used to establish a pattern of grooming and facilitation [2] [1].
2. “Jane”: a long-running account of abuse beginning at 14
“Jane” testified that Maxwell and Epstein befriended her at about age 14 — she said she began visiting Epstein’s Palm Beach home and was sexually abused over several years, sometimes with Maxwell present; Maxwell, she said, instructed her how Epstein liked massages and on one described episode Maxwell reportedly touched her breasts, hips and buttocks [3] [4] [8].
3. “Kate”: arranged meetings and explicit talk about Epstein’s needs
The witness called “Kate” told jurors that Maxwell set up meetings and spoke often about sexual topics; she testified Maxwell said Epstein “needed to have sex about three times a day,” and that Maxwell’s conversations and arranging of encounters are consistent with the prosecution’s grooming narrative [5].
4. “Carolyn”: early contact, payments and Maxwell entering the room
“Carolyn” testified she was about 14 when she was first sexually abused by Epstein and described Maxwell as the older woman who greeted her at Epstein’s Palm Beach estate; she said Maxwell would call to arrange appointments, that the payments (about $300) mattered to her at the time, and that on at least one occasion Maxwell entered a massage room while Carolyn was fully nude and touched her [6].
5. Annie Farmer: a recruited teen and the massage at a New Mexico ranch
Annie Farmer recounted being recruited — including an initial contact involving tickets — and testified that, at 16, Maxwell gave her a naked massage at Epstein’s New Mexico property; she also produced contemporaneous journal entries that prosecutors used to corroborate her conflicted feelings and memory of the events [1] [7].
6. Common threads the prosecution emphasized
Prosecutors used these four accounts to show a consistent pattern: Maxwell allegedly recruited and groomed teenage girls, bought gifts, arranged meetings and in some instances participated or was present during sexual encounters — conduct characterized by prosecutors as facilitating Epstein’s abuse [2] [9] [3].
7. Defense strategy and contested details
Maxwell’s defense attacked memory and motive: lawyers argued witnesses had faulty memories, financial incentives (including victim compensation) and inconsistencies, and they called expert testimony aimed at undermining credibility — for example, cross‑examinations about delays in reporting and payments received [3] [10]. The defense did not argue Maxwell was herself a victim, choosing instead to cast doubt on accusers’ recollections [10].
8. What the public record does — and does not — show
Available reporting and official summaries list and summarize what each of these four women testified to in open court; they provide specifics like ages, locations (Palm Beach, New Mexico, Manhattan), alleged conduct (massages, touching, grooming) and some corroborating items such as journal entries and seized physical evidence (massage table) [6] [1] [11]. Available sources do not mention other alleged victims testifying at that trial beyond these four in the prosecution’s core presentation [2] [12].
Limitations: this summary uses contemporaneous news and court reporting to represent on‑the‑record testimony; it does not rely on sealed filings or grand jury material — and the Justice Department later emphasized that grand juries did not hear direct victim testimony, although many of these victims later testified at the public trial [12] [13].