Epstein Island: Newly Unsealed Evidence of Abuse

Unsealed testimony implicates Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

Dec 14, 2022

We have newly unsealed documents – including the depositions of Ghislaine Maxwell and one of her victims – revealing new details on the extent of the abuse and victimization that took place by Jeffrey Epstein. Those filings come from Giuffre v. Maxwell, a civil case filed against Maxwell in 2015 in the New York Southern District.

Some of the broader allegations have already been made public. Sarah Ransome, who accused Epstein and Maxwell of abuse that took place during her early 20s, settled a civil lawsuit against them in 2018. Ransome has publicly described some of the abuse. And there have been reports on what transpired at Little St. James, often referred to as Epstein Island.

Unsealed photographs - Ghislaine Maxwell at Epstein Island

Let’s get to the new details, starting with the testimony of Ransome, available here. She actually lived one of Epstein’s apartments in 2006 with a few other girls. During that time, she worked for what she described as an “agency” which arranged paid dinners with wealthy clients: “I was paid to spend dinner with a gentleman.” Whatever happened after dinner with the client was done on her “own accord” and “after that time period had finished.”

Ransome was introduced to Epstein by a female associate of his (her name is still redacted), who described Epstein as a wealthy “philanthropist” who “really cares about people” and “really wants to help them.” She was open to meeting Epstein because she was struggling financially. Soon after meeting Epstein, Ransome was invited to travel on Epstein’s plane to Epstein Island. She was told it “was going to be a girls’ week” and they would have “so much fun”:

Q. How did the flight meeting become arranged, if you know?
A. So it was pretty a last-minute thing. phoned me up and said that Jeffrey Epstein would very much like to have me go to his island. It was going to be so much fun, it was going to be a girls' week, there were lots of other girls going, we were going to have so much fun, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

What happened on the flight – her first flight with Epstein – must have been shocking to Ransome. She described what happened after they took off:

“The rest of the passengers in the -- I think it's towards the front of the plane where all the seats are -- we all -- all the guests were -- fell asleep. I pretended to be asleep.
Jeffrey then went – Jeffrey went to his -- was in his bed on the plane, having open sex with for everyone to see, on display.”

Ransome would eventually give massages to Epstein at the Island. She had been told that Epstein “loves women, loves getting massages” and that this “was a nice way to make extra cash.” At first, the massages were relatively normal. Then then escalated to the type of “massage” Epstein is now notorious for – much of which was done without Ransome’s consent.

She described her experiences at Epstein’s Island as being constantly surrounded by “beautiful young people” and that there “were always girls” there to visit “Jeffrey and Ghislaine.” Ransome also gave a description of the Island as having multiple buildings – a main house and then various buildings around the Island for Epstein and his guests:

“like little shelter things where him and his guests used to have sex with the girls, like beds set up for instant sexual entertainment.”

There was a “constant influx of girls” at this Island. It was a type of brothel. According to Ransome:

“It's like, I'm sure if you go into a hooker's brothel and see how they run their business, I mean, it's just general conversation about who's going to have sex with who and, you know -- what do you talk about when all do you is have sex every day on rotation? I mean, what is there to talk about?”

She testified that all those girls “appeared to be teenagers.” They “looked young.” One girl in particular “looked well under 18.” This girl told Ransome that “they abused her on the island.” Another girl ran out of Epstein’s room crying and saying she was “forced to have sex with Jeffrey Epstein.”

Unsealed photographs of Epstein at Epstein Island, 2006.

Ransome would meet Ghislaine Maxwell on a later trip to Epstein Island. She was told that Maxwell was “a very dangerous character and has connections,” and “to do everything she told me to do.” The girls would report to Maxwell. Ransome and other girls were in fact intimidated by and scared of Maxwell:

“I met a lot of girls who we all had the same opinion of Ghislaine; we were all frightened of her. She had a very odd relationship with Jeffrey and -- yeah, she's not a nice -- I'm sorry, I know she's your client, but she's not -- she's not a friendly, warm person.”

Ransome also described the role of Ghislaine Maxwell at Epstein Island:

“Ghislaine was Jeffrey's right-hand woman, so, you know, whatever Jeffrey wanted went through Ghislaine and then filtered through.”
“So there was -- everyone was afraid of Ghislaine. All the girls were afraid of her…”
“And we were told by Jeffrey Epstein to listen to Ghislaine. So Ghislaine was the main right-hand woman of Jeffrey Epstein. We were told by Jeffrey Epstein to listen to Ghislaine.”

Maxwell would actually assist Epstein with managing his sexual “rotation” on the Island:

Q. And when you say you were on rotation, you mean you were having sex with Jeffrey multiple times per day?
A. No. As in when I was finished, another girl was called by Ghislaine. And when they had finished, another girl was called.
Q. How do you know that another girl was called by Ghislaine?
A. Because I was there, and I saw it and heard it with all my senses. I saw Ghislaine call another girl, and she called me herself, to go give Jeffrey Epstein a sexual massage.
…
Q. What do you mean by call? I guess I'm thinking like telephone. That may be my --
A. No. As in going up to the person and going, Jeffrey wants to see you in his bedroom, which meant it's your turn to be abused. That kind of thing.

Other unsealed parts of the civil case concern the deposition of Rinaldo Rizzo – something we have previously reported on – who said Epstein and Maxwell were with a 15 year-old girl and had taken her passport:

A. What happens next when Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein and a 15-year-old girl walk into Eva Anderson's home? . . . “A. She proceeds to tell my wife and I that, and this is not – this is blurting out, not a conversation like I'm having a casual conversation. That quickly, I was on an island, I was on the island and there was Ghislaine, there was Sarah, she said they asked me for sex, I said no.
And she is just rambling, and I'm like what, and she said -- I asked her, I said what? And she says yes, I was on the island, I don't know how I got from the island to here. Last afternoon or in the afternoon I was on the island and now I'm here. And I said do you have a -- this is not making any sense to me, and I said this is nuts, do you have a passport, do you have a phone? And she says no, and she says Ghislaine took my passport. And I said what, and she says Sarah took her passport and her phone and gave it to Ghislaine Maxwell, and at that point she said that she was threatened.”

There is still more to come. Currently, multiple “John Does” are fighting the unsealing of their names. We expect those names to be unsealed but there is an appeals process we’ll have to wait for.

Some of the men are only casually referenced in the case. Others were potentially involved in Epstein’s criminal acts. We’ll publish those names once they’re out.

In the meantime, if you need to catch up on the Epstein/Maxwell details, here are some good places to start: