NEW YORK—Annie Farmer, an alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, testified in Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial in federal court on Dec. 10, making her the last of the four alleged victims called to testify.
Unlike the other alleged victims, Farmer used her actual, full name. The previous victims had used either just a first name or a pseudonym.
Under direct examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz, Farmer testified that her older sister, Maria, worked for Epstein in 1995. Her sister was 25, and she was 16.
Farmer first met Epstein at his New York residence when she visited her sister there, traveling from her home in Phoenix, Arizona, in December 1995. She was under the impression that Epstein would help her with her college applications. At one point, he suggested that an international trip would look good on them.
During her stay in New York, Epstein purchased tickets for the sisters to the Broadway musical “Phantom of the Opera.” On another evening, he took them to see a movie. He was seated next to Farmer.
She testified that Epstein “caressed” her hand and held it during the film. She stated that he also rubbed her foot and this made her “sick to [her] stomach.”
Farmer said she never told her sister about the incident because she “was very confused about what happened” and was fearful that her sister would lose her job if she said anything.
During her young life, Farmer sporadically kept a journal.
In an entry dated Jan. 25, 1996, she wrote, “It was a little weird,” regarding the handholding. She also wrote that “it was no big deal,” because “he was so nice and generous with everyone,” and that she thought he was “being fatherly or something.”
Pages from the journal were admitted as evidence.
While back in Arizona, Farmer said she spoke to Epstein on the phone two or three times. In April 1996, Farmer flew to Epstein’s Santa Fe, New Mexico, ranch. She was still 16 years old.
“I was not eager to go to New Mexico,” she said. “I did not want to be alone with him.”
However, she knew Maxwell would be around, so that made her feel safer, although she questioned why these adults wanted to spend time with a teen.
According to Farmer, she went to a movie with Epstein and Maxwell, and the hand caressing started again and lasted “throughout the majority of the movie.”
“He was very blatant in doing it,” she said.
As Maxwell is purported to have done with other alleged victims, she brought up the subject of foot massages and instructed Farmer on how to give one to Epstein.
“I felt very uncomfortable,” Farmer said. “I was hoping it would be over quickly.”
This led to Maxwell giving Farmer a message, setting up a massage table in Farmer’s room on the property.
“She told me to get undressed,” Farmer said.
Farmer testified that she laid facedown, under a sheet at first. Then, Maxwell had her roll over, pulled the sheet down, and started rubbing Farmer’s breasts.
The next morning, Farmer claimed that Epstein came into her bedroom and asked her if she wanted to cuddle. He climbed into bed with her, wrapped his arms around her, and pressed his body against hers.
She faked having to use the bathroom and stayed there until he left.
Farmer said she didn’t make a journal entry regarding the New Mexico incident because she “did not want to think about it.”
In summer 1996, when Farmer was 17 years old, she took an international trip to Thailand and Vietnam. Epstein paid for it.
At some point, Farmer told her mother, Janice Swain, that “something uncomfortable” had happened during the New York trip. In fall 1996, Farmer started dating Dave Mulligan, and she told him of the incidents. Both Swain and Mulligan have testified during the trial.
Farmer disclosed that she was awarded $1.5 million from the Jeffrey Epstein Victims’ Compensation Fund and didn’t have to pay her attorneys, who worked on her case pro bono. As part of the settlement, she had to drop her lawsuit against Maxwell and Epstein.
Upon cross-examination, defense attorney Laura Menninger had Farmer confirm that her sister had arranged for Farmer’s travel to New York.
“Ghislaine Maxwell had no logistics in your travel to New York,” Menninger said.
“That’s correct,” Farmer replied.
Farmer confirmed that she never met or even talked to Maxwell in New York and that Maxwell never took Farmer to the movies while in New York or paid for Farmer’s international trip.
Once again, the defense used its reliable method of finding inconsistencies in current testimony by referring to depositions that were taken a few years ago.
Menninger had Farmer confirm that she used her journal entries to refresh her memory of events that happened 25 years ago, as well as looking up the release dates of the movies they saw. Menninger also had Farmer confirm that there was absolutely no mention of Maxwell in any of the journal entries.
Menninger had Farmer further confirm that the New Mexico trip was arranged on the phone by Epstein and that Farmer didn’t meet Maxwell until after she had arrived in Santa Fe.
Menninger found several inconsistencies in Farmer’s testimony about the massage that she was given by Maxwell, especially when it came to what she was wearing or not wearing, as well as how much fondling went on and what was fondled.
On redirect, Pomerantz attempted to prove Farmer’s memory was credible by asking, “Do you remember Maxwell touching your breasts?”
“Yes,” Farmer said.
Pomerantz further asked, “Do you need a journal entry or a piece of paper to remember Ghislaine Maxwell touching your breasts?”
“I do not,” Farmer replied.
The prosecution rested by the end of the day, making its case in two weeks. The trial will resume on Dec. 16.
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