‘She’s like cool older sister, normalised all this’: Released Epstein Files reveal how Maxwell groomed teen girls

The newly released Jeffrey Epstein files have revealed how the sex offender's former partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, used to psychologically trick teenage girls into his abusive orbit. The documents came as Maxwell is serving 20 years in prison for grooming children into sex abuse by Epstein. The documents revealed that an enforcement officer in 2020 told grand jurors about an interview with a woman who claimed to have been abused by Epstein as a minor. She said she was not abused during her initial visits to Epstein's house, which she described as "strange". The documents said that Maxwell "normalised it for her". She used to behave like a cool older sister. She used to say, "This is what grownups do."

The woman mentioned in the document said that she saw Maxwell topless by Epstein’s pool. “She was a little taken back, but Maxwell just acted normal," the officer said in the document.

The woman said that when Epstein's sexual abuse started, other women were sometimes used to be present there, including Maxwell. “They would generally start with one of the girls massaging Epstein … usually massaging his feet,” the officer described what the women told him. “Maxwell was kind of teasing the other girls. She’d grab the girl’s breasts, and she would direct the girls on what to do," the officer added.

“She would try not to look at Maxwell because she gave off that sister-vibe, so it felt weird for her,” the law enforcement agent said. “She would try to be invisible in the room so they would ignore her as much as possible," he added. The accuser described Maxwell’s attitude as “very casual – she acted like this was normal”.

Although the document did not reveal the name of the woman mentioned, it was described to the office. The description matches the claims of “Jane” during Maxwell’s trial. Jane told jurors Epstein started abusing her at age 14 – and Maxwell was sometimes in the room. Jane said that Maxwell would sometimes touch her breasts. “There were hands everywhere,” she said.