A woman who claims Ghislaine Maxwell forced her into a room to be raped by Jeffrey Epstein has told Sky News that the British socialite was the “main enforcer”.
Sarah Ransome said “you don’t cross her” and she was “the lady of the house”.
Maxwell has been convicted of recruiting underage girls to be sexually abused by former boyfriend Epstein and now faces up to 65 years in prison in the US.
She was found guilty of five of the six counts brought about by the testimony of four women who all gave evidence in court in New York.
Maxwell and her former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein
Ms Ransome, who settled a lawsuit with Epstein and Maxwell in 2018, was not among the four but she did attend the trial.
She said it was important for her to be in court to “smile right back” at the defendant as she said Maxwell had smiled at her after allegedly forcing her into one of Epstein’s rooms to be abused by the financier.
She told Sky’s US correspondent Martha Kelner: “Ghislaine was the main enforcer… even before I met Ghislaine, Jeffrey said ‘you answer to Ghislaine’. She is the lady of the house… you just don’t cross her.
“She forced me into Jeffrey’s room to be raped. And then when I walked out – well, walked, limped, I mean whatever you do when you have just been brutally raped… I looked at her.
“That’s why it was really important for me to be there (at the court) and look at her because when I looked at her after she forced me into that room to be raped she smiled, and that’s why I had to be there because you know what? I smiled right back at her when I saw her.”
Here are the questions left by the trial
Annie Farmer testified in court against Maxwell. Pic: AP
Meanwhile, one of the four accusers who testified in court against Maxwell said her conviction was “one important step” toward justice.
“It’s a tremendous relief,” Annie Farmer said on ABC’s Good Morning America. “I wasn’t sure that this day would ever come.”
Ms Farmer, the only one of the four to give her full name in the trial, added: “I just feel so grateful that the jury believed us and sent a strong message that perpetrators of sexual abuse and exploitation will be held accountable no matter how much power and privilege they have.”
Ms Farmer was 16-years-old when she first met Epstein. She claimed she was flown to his ranch in New Mexico under the impression it was part of a scholarship programme with dozens of other students, but arrived to find she was there alone, apart from Epstein and Maxwell.
She said Maxwell instructed her how to give a foot massage to Epstein and later massaged Ms Farmer’s “chest and upper breasts”.
Ms Farmer is now a psychologist, treating patients who have had similar experiences.
She said: “Having the privilege of hearing so many stories from the people that I work with, I have really recognised that it’s a very rare opportunity to be able to be in court and tell your story.
“And to be able to see the person who perpetrated the abuse held accountable.”