By Canadian Press

Final accuser takes stand at Maxwell trial, using real name

Dec 10, 2021 | 9:21 AM

NEW YORK (AP) — Another key accuser at the sex-abuse trial of Ghislaine Maxwell began testifying Friday about her allegations that the British socialite tried to coax her — at just 16 — into a sexual encounter with financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Annie Farmer took the stand using her true identity — a departure from the decision by three other accusers with similar stories who testified under pseudonyms or first names only to protect their privacy.

Asked by a prosecutor if she saw anyone in the courtroom who had ever given her a massage, she identified Maxwell, who was sitting at the defense table.

Farmer’s testimony was originally expected on Thursday at Maxwell’s closely watched trial in federal court in Manhattan. But it was delayed after U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan announced that one of the attorneys in the case was sick, adjourning the case for the day.

Nathan had said there was no reason to believe the attorney’s illness was related to the coronavirus. The attorney was back in court on Friday.

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Farmer’s testimony follows that of three other women who claimed Maxwell recruited them to give Epstein massages meant as a ruse for sexually abusing teens. Two said they were just 14 when the abuse started and that Maxwell sometimes participated in the encounters.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they were victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly. Although Farmer was not identified by name in court documents, she has been outspoken in describing her experiences in interviews with ABC and The New York Times. When Maxwell sought bail, Farmer asked the judge to deny it, calling her a “psychopath.”

In earlier civil litigation, Farmer had alleged she was 16 when she was tricked into visiting Epstein’s New Mexico ranch in the mid-1990s under the guise of attending an event for college-bound students. But when she arrived, there were no other students.

In the lawsuit, she said Maxwell tried to groom her by taking her to the movies and shopping, and giving her an unsolicited massage while the teenager was topless.

Maxwell has been jailed since she was arrested in New Hampshire in July of the following year.

Farmer’s testimony caps the trial’s second week. It’s unclear whether the government will finish presenting its case Friday, as expected. Nathan suggested that closing arguments in the trial — originally thought to span six weeks — might occur as soon as Dec. 20 if the defense presentation next week only lasts a day or two.

Larry Neumeister And Tom Hays, The Associated Press