07 December 2021

Massage therapist advert created by Maxwell account found on seized hard drive

07 December 2021

A computer hard drive seized by the FBI from Jeffrey Epstein’s New York home has revealed a job advert for a massage therapist linked to Ghislaine Maxwell a court heard.

British socialite Maxwell is accused of preying on vulnerable young girls and luring them to massage rooms to be molested by Epstein between 1994 and 2004.

Emails found on the same hard drive also showed an author, which linked to an email address for Maxwell, ask for an update on the progress of a “household manual”.

The massage room at Jeffrey Epstein’s New York house (US Dept of Justice) (PA Media)

The 59-year-old’s trial in a Federal court in the Southern District of New York previously heard how a manual was handed to staff in which they were told to “see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing”.

An FBI computer analyst told jurors the properties of each of the files shown to the jury, including a Word document which listed a number of shampoo and massage products, was created by the author “gmax” in September 2002.

Emails demonstrated the author name to belong to Ms Maxwell in which she told the recipient “Sally” that housekeeper Juan Patricio Alessi was doing a “truly awful job”.

A separate FBI analyst, Kimberly Meder, also took the jury through photos seized from CDs found at Epstein’s New York town house, including ones of Maxwell massaging the disgraced financier’s feet on a plane.

A total of 19 photos were shown to the jury and the public with a further two images shown to  jurors under seal – including a picture of Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Roberts.

The picture of Ms Roberts was filed under seal to “protect her privacy”, the court heard.

The CDs were found as part of FBI searches at Epstein’s New York home in July 2019.

Jeffrey Epstein standing in front of his private plane (US Dept of Justice) (PA Media)

Asked to read the advert for the massage therapist, which was created in September 2001 by Maxwell, Stephen Flatley, part of the FBI’s Computer Analysis Response Team (Cart) said it read: “Help wanted. Are you a massage therapist? Work in Palm Beach home.

“Excellent pay. Mostly weekends. Please call 351-1000. Leave message.”

Mr Flatley also took jurors through emails from the gmax account, which told the recipient there were “no pens in the black Merc”, “no drinking water in the blck Merc”, and the “pool deck had to be pressure washed”.

The email also said the “massage creams in (Epstein’s) bathroom were a mess” and nobody had gone in to arrange them.

Later in the email, the recipient was then asked: “How are we doing with the Palm Beach manual? Where do we stand with it?”

The court was then shown a list of workers and their phone numbers from the Palm Beach house which was created by the same account in January 2002.

A separate Word document, also created by gmax, also described the defendant’s relationship with Epstein.

It read: “Jeffrey and Ghislaine have been together, a couple, for the last 11 years.

“They are, contrary to what many people think, rarely apart.

“I almost always see them together.”

It continued: “Ghislaine is highly intelligent and great company with a ready smile and an infectious laugh, will always put one at one’s ease and always makes one feel welcome.

“Jeffrey and Ghislaine share many mutual interests and they have a lot of fun together.

“Jeffrey and Ghislaine compliment each other really well and I can’t imagine one without the other.

“On top of being partners, they are also the best of friends.”

The full indictment against Maxwell lists six charges: conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts; enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts; conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; sex trafficking conspiracy; and sex trafficking of a minor.

The defendant is further alleged to have lied under oath by hiding her participation in Epstein’s offences during a separate civil case.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

The death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell, who has been held in a US jail since her arrest in July last year, denies all charges.

The trial continues.

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