The Epstein case, which has been the world's attention for more than two years, finally went to trial this week.
On trial was Epstein's ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was accused of plotting to provide underage girls to satisfy Epstein's perverted desires.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and committed suicide in prison the following month.
Therefore, the judgment could only fall on Gieslein.
She was arrested in July 2020 on charges of luring and trafficking minors into the illegal sex trade, and if convicted, she faces up to 70 years in prison.
On Monday, in Federal Court in Manhattan, New York, Gislein, the victims and witnesses appeared in court to tell their stories before the jury.
Federal prosecutor Lara Pomerantz, at the beginning of the trial, told the jury that Gieslein and Epstein were "partners in the crime."
"The defendant (Gieslein) first built trust with young girls and then sexually exploited them to normalize illegal sexual activity. For a decade, she had the girls serve Epstein. ”
"The defendant and Epstein convince the girls that their dreams can be fulfilled by obeying. They make the girls think they're special, but it's all a lie. ”
Gislein and her lawyers categorically denied such claims.
Lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said Gislein was Epstein's scapegoat and that people were only focusing all their fire on his ex-girlfriend because he was dead.
Ever since Eve was accused of seducing Adam with an apple, women have been behind men's bad behavior. My client is a scapegoat for a dirty man. He's not here, but he's in the whole courtroom at the same time. ”
In the lawyer's account, Giesley Lane was just "an ordinary friend of Epstein who had met the victims but nothing more than that, without acts of seduction and training."
"The victims said my client had tricked them, but considering it happened more than 20 years ago, their memories are not so reliable. Moreover, their ideas were guided by lawyers, all in order to get the money that Epstein had left behind. ”
In the lawyer's description, Gieslane is an ignorant little white flower, unfortunately caught up in Epstein's whirlpool.
But the first witness at the opening of the trial proved that Gislein and Epstein were close to each other and would never know anything.
The witness in court was Lawrence Visoski Jr. who served as a pilot for Epstein's private jets from 1991 until 2019.
The Boeing 727 plane driven by Lawrence Jr. is what the media calls the "Lolita Express".
He said Gieslane and Epstein were very close, she managed his family and property, and the two were like the actual couple.
Epstein flies almost every four days, and Gislein often accompanies them, bringing well-known guests and many beautiful girls with them.
Lawrence Jr. testified that he had seen guests on the Lolita Express among Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew and actor Kevin Spacey.
All four have had sexual assault allegations, and in addition to Clinton, the other three have also been accused of sexually assaulting minors.
In court, Lawrence Jr. also described the interior of the plane.
It does look weird, not like a business jet, but a hotel with a strange taste.
Inside there are plenty of round rooms and double beds, as well as a fully equipped kitchen.
There are also many sofas in the plane, either in a circle or a long strip, which is very large and soft.
Even the supposedly hard coffee table is covered with a sponge.
Still, Lawrence Jr. said he didn't know if Epstein had ever had an adulterous party in the plane because the cockpit door was always closed.
"But Epstein didn't force us to close the door, he invited the pilots to the back of the plane for activities, such as going to the toilet."
Another lawyer at Gisleen, Christian Everdell, asked him if he had personally seen sex involving underage girls on planes, which he denied.
"I haven't seen any sex on the plane, let alone underage girls. There are a lot of young girls on the plane, but by looking, they are all over 20 years old. ”
In court, there was a victim named "Jane," and Lawrence Jr. said he had seen her, and Epstein had taken her to the cockpit.
The pilot described her as "a mature woman with sharp powder-blue eyes."
This testimony sounds both good and bad for Gislein.
However, Jane's testimony, who appeared in court today, dealt a big blow to Gislein.
The birth documents Provided by Jane prove that she and Epstein were very young when they met, only 14 years old.
In 1994, when 14-year-old Jane was attending a summer camp for gifted children in Michigan, she met a tall, lanky woman holding a cute Yorkshire.
At that time, Jane and her friends were sitting on a bench eating ice cream, and when they saw the dog, they asked if they could touch it.
The woman agreed, and she was Gislein.
After playing with the dog for a while, the friends slowly returned to summer camp, leaving only Jane to stay.
A man, Epstein, quickly sat down on a bench and chatted with Jane.
He posed as a confidant uncle, asked Jane what classes he liked to take, and said that he was a helpful philanthropist and could find him if he had difficulties.
Knowing that the two were like themselves and that their home was in Palm Beach, Florida, Jane gave them her phone number.
A few weeks later, after her mother went bankrupt and moved into a friend's house because of her father's death, Jane contacted Epstein, who gave her money.
"The money is for your mom, and I know she's having a tough time right now." Epstein said.
Soon, Jane is invited to Epstein's Palm Beach mansion, and Gislein is there, looking like a hostess.
"From the moment we met, the two of them kept bragging that they knew someone and were friends with them." Jane said in court, "They want to prove that they have a wide network and are rich." ”
At first, Jane had a good impression of the two, and Gislein was in her eyes a "weird but kind big sister".
But the "kind" Gieslein turned to sex, talking about her sex life in front of the 14-year-old girl.
Even more embarrassing, Giesley and Epstein say they want to buy a gift for Jane, only to accompany her to the store and buy a pair of white cotton briefs.
Jane thought it was weird, but put up with it.
After that, she would go to Epstein's house every week or two, and the two of them became more and more open, playing naked swimming in the pool.
"When I got to the pool, I saw four women and Gislein naked, even naked. I was shocked, I had never seen anything like this before. ”
Jane was born into a musical family, and one day she and Epstein talked about wanting to enter the entertainment industry, and Epstein said he could help her find an agent.
The atmosphere was normal, but Epstein suddenly pulled her to the edge of the pool, took off his pants, and then let Jane sit on top of her and began to masturbate.
When he was done, he went into the bathroom to clean up, and finally pretended that nothing had happened. I was so frightened that I froze. ”
Jane said she didn't tell anyone what happened at the pool, "I was scared, disgusting and ashamed. ”
But this was not an accident, and many times afterwards Epstein stroked her body and asked Jane to touch him. At this time, Gislein often watched from the sidelines, with a calm expression, and sometimes she would touch Jane.
Jane said that Gislein, like Epstein, would be involved in sexual assault, sometimes multiple people.
Such frenzied parties usually start abruptly, with Gislein summoning the girls to Epstein's bedroom or massage room, where everyone then takes off their clothes and leaves Epstein lying in the middle.
Prosecutor Alison Moe asked Jane if she had talked to friends or family about the experience at the time.
Jane said she spoke implicitly to the school counselor in seventh grade, but after the counselor called her mom, she slapped her in the face and didn't mention it again.
Jane's statement in court caused a lot of psychological impact on the jury,
But Gieslein's lawyer said it was just Jane acting.
"She's an actress who's been in commercials, sitcoms and movies, and she's also a singer. Now, she's playing soap operas in front of everyone! Sternheim said.
When she visited Epstein's home in Palm Beach, they just talked about music and art. Nothing else happened. ”
But Sternheim also admitted that Epstein had offered to be Jane's patron and had given her and her family a Manhattan apartment.
Jane was the first victim to appear in court, along with three other women who accused Gislein and Epstein of sexually assaulting them between 1994 and 2004.
The three have not yet appeared in court, but one of them has already revealed her identity: Sarah Ransome.
Rantham was the granddaughter of a wealthy British baron and a major figure in the House of Lords.
But she was not protected by her family because her father abandoned her and she was raised by her mother alone in South Africa.
At the age of 22, Rantham came to Manhattan to look for a job in order to enter the fashion industry, only to be tricked into being imprisoned on Epstein's Caribbean Island (also known as the "Pedophile Island" by the media), and raped by Epstein and other men every day.
Many times, Lantham was raped three times a day, and she tried to escape by swimming, but there were sharks in the sea and her passport was taken early.
Luckily, she left there after 7 months.
In 2017, Lantham filed a lawsuit against Epstein, Gieslein and three aides accusing them of sexually abusing her.
She was a victim of the early stages, when epstein's scandal had not yet broken.
Rantham told the media that Epstein would perform "very erotic sex" in front of everyone on a private jet.
"I thought I was crazy because everyone else thought it was perfectly normal, like making tea."
She also said Gislein's attitude towards the girls was terrible.
"I have never seen anyone in my life who despises others so much. The way she treats us like we're stuck to her shoes. From the beginning, she was bullying us. ”
Gislein denied the allegations, and the case ended with Epstein and Lantham reaching an out-of-court settlement.
But after epstein's scandal came to light, Rantham decided to come forward again and accuse them of their crimes.
Outside the courtroom on Monday, Rantham said she "never imagined that day would really come."
The Gieslein trial will last from December to mid-January, and more than a month after that, people will hear more terrible stories.
Gislein said she was innocent, but she knew it in her own heart.
There is always punishment for committing crimes, and I hope that the trial is over and everyone can get a fair sentence...