Fourth woman testifies in Maxwell trial, points to defendant as woman who sexually abuse her as teen

A fourth women Friday testified in the the sex-abuse trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, saying Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein forced themselves on her when she was 16 during a visit to the late-financier's New Mexico ranch. 

Annie Farmer told jurors she accepted an invitation to the ranch in 1996 hoping that Maxwell and Epstein wanted to help her with academic endeavors. Instead, she said, Maxwell fondling her breasts and Epstein climbed into bed without her permission, according to the Associated Press. 

Farmer is the fourth woman to testify in the prosecution's case against Maxwell, accused of recruiting young women for Epstein, who in 2019 killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell awaiting related charges.

She is also the first of the four to use her name when testifying.

Asked by a prosecutor whether she saw anyone in the courtroom who had ever given her a massage, the 42-year-old Farmer identified Maxwell, who was sitting at the defense table.

The three others claimed Maxwell recruited them to give Epstein, a one-time boyfriend, massages meant as a ruse for sexually abusing teens, the wire service also reports.

Two said they were just 14 when the abuse started and that Maxwell sometimes participated in the encounters.

Maxwell, 59, has denied charges she groomed underage girls.

Farmer testified that she met Epstein at 16 when on a trip to New York City to visit her older sister, who was working for him at his Manhattan mansion. She said he originally seemed "very friendly" and offered to mentor her, only to later try trying to hold her hand and he said caress her leg at the movies, also according to the Associated Press.

In the subsequent trip to New Mexico, with a pre-paid plane ticket, Farmer said Maxwell insisted on pulling down the sheet on a massage table before she "starting rubbing on my breasts."

She said the next day Epstein climbed into her bed and "pressed his body against her," before she made an excuse to go to the bathroom.

Farmer's testimony came in the trial's second week. It's unclear whether the government will finish presenting its case Friday, as expected.

The judge has suggested that closing arguments might occur as soon as Dec. 20 if the defense presentation next week takes only a day or two, the wire service also reports.