..
Epstein’s ‘Lolita Express’ pilot testifies in Maxwell trial as flight data leaks
30 Nov, 2021 19:59
The pilot who flew pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell between their high-end haunts has testified at her sex-trafficking trial, confirming certain VIPs were on board.
Larry Visoski, who testified he flew Epstein to his private island in the Caribbean “at least every 10 days for 20 years,” told the court on Tuesday during the second day of Maxwell’s trial that it was “not unusual” for Maxwell – Epstein’s close confidante and the alleged procurer of the young girls from whom he received “erotic massages” – to sit with him in the cockpit and fly his helicopters.
The accused child sex trafficker is a licensed helicopter pilot, though it’s not clear how many of the flights Visoski made with Epstein were made with her present – in the cockpit or elsewhere on the plane. He did recall flying both a “powder-blue-eyed” singer from Interlochen Music Camp in Michigan and was familiar with Virginia Roberts (now Virginia Roberts Giuffre) who has accused both Epstein and Britain’s Prince Andrew of abuse.
While Visoski said that he “never saw any sexual activity,” he also acknowledged that Epstein and Maxwell probably would have asked him to stay in the cockpit had they been engaged in such illicit activity.
He also testified that former US president Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew and Donald Trump, among others, flew on the jet.
Visoski’s testimony was not the only source of details related to the late sex offender’s air travel to go public the week of Maxwell’s trial. The Federal Aviation Administration managed to leak data on hundreds of previously unknown flights by Epstein’s private planes in response to an inquiry by Business Insider on Monday. While the publication had previously asked for the data, they had been refused, and only later received the records “in response to an unrelated request.”
The information was added to a searchable database featuring details on Epstein’s mile-high companions, one of which now contains data on 2,618 flights by Maxwell’s alleged partner in crime between 1995 to July 6, 2019 – the day the plane landed in Teterboro, New Jersey, where Epstein was arrested, never to fly again.
It included a list of 704 flights that were previously unknown to the public, many dating from a three year ‘gap’ in the public record, from 2013 to 2016, when the jets’ movements were told to be “unaccounted for.” The mistakenly released records do not include passenger names, but may “offer clues” about the travel destinations of Epstein's closest companions, Insider noted.
=====================================================================================
Epstein accuser explains how she was groomed by Maxwell
1 Dec, 2021 16:38
One of the women allegedly trafficked by accused Epstein ‘madam’ Ghislaine Maxwell has testified to being scouted from a prestigious music camp and groomed with ‘scholarships’ as her family was in financial need.
The woman, testifying under the pseudonym ‘Jane’, described the grooming process during testimony on Tuesday, from being spotted at the prestigious Interlochen music camp in Michigan to being chatted up by Maxwell and Epstein. Their apparent concern for her near-bankrupt family’s financial situation following the death of her father from leukemia was welcome at a fragile time in her life.
Jane testified that the pair’s mention of “scholarships” was appealing, and she ultimately gave them her mother’s phone number, which led to invites for the teen to “tea” at Epstein’s home. There, Jane said she spent time “every week or two” – starting with “casual stuff” like shopping sprees and mall dates.
But things escalated quickly, Jane told the court, mentioning “odd incidents” like stepping out to the pool to find a bevy of topless and nude women, including Ghislaine. “I was just shocked because I hadn’t seen that before,” she added.
Jane says she was first abused by Epstein at his Palm Beach home as he promised to help with her artistic career. He “knew all the agents … all the photographers … and could ‘make things happen,’” he allegedly told her.
Epstein “took me in the pool house and on the right-hand side was this couch, futon-looking thing, and he just proceeded to pull me over. He sat in the corner and didn’t say a word,” she testified. Jane said Epstein then pulled his pants down, “pulled me on top of himself, and proceeded to masturbate on me.”
"I was frozen in fear. I’d never seen a penis before… There were hands everywhere,"
Jane, who was 14 when she first met Epstein and Maxwell, claimed such sexual encounters would occur “about every two weeks,” with Maxwell allegedly touching her breasts during group sex.
The accused faces six charges of allegedly conspiring with Epstein and assisting in his abuse of underage girls between 1994 and 2004. If convicted, she may spend as much as 80 years in prison. She has pleaded not guilty on all charges.
‘What was missing, my death?’ Fury in France as judo coach
cleared of assaulting female Olympic champ
3 Dec, 2021 18:26
A French judo coach accused of domestic violence against his Olympic champion partner has been acquitted in a case which has caused shock and outrage across the nation.
Alain Schmitt allegedly attacked Tokyo 2020 mixed team gold medalist Margaux Pinot at her flat on the outskirts of Paris last weekend by wrestling her to the floor, verbally abusing her, and punching her and smashing her head on the ground before trying to strangle her.
"It’s probably judo that saved me and my thoughts go out to other women who cannot say the same," she added.
Pinot reportedly required the help of neighbors that had come to her aid to escape Schmitt, who was also her partner and was arrested and questioned by officers that evening after Pinot filed a report.
Schmitt, 38, denied the allegations "100%" and insisted the incident was a lover's quarrel.
The case was fast-tracked to a court, where the state prosecutor, which has since launched an appeal, requested a one-year suspended sentence for "very serious violence."
The judge however claimed there was not enough proof of guilt, saying: "A court is never there to tell who is telling the truth and who is lying."
How stupid is that? Look at the girls face. That doesn't happen by accident!
Both parties have held press conferences, with Schmitt, appearing with a bruised eye at his, accusing Pinot of lying.
He admitted that the pair had an argument, but said Pinot punched him and pushed him towards a door. As he tried to get away, Schmitt says, the pair bumped into a radiator and the wall as he then fell on her.
"In my life, I’ve never punched anyone," he said. "It’s not possible for me to have punched someone and they ran away and I caught up with them – it’s not possible.
"And all of that after I supposedly pushed her head into the ground? It’s a joke … She’s lying of course.
"She jumped on me and grabbed me by the collar. I moved back, she pushed me against a doorframe. I banged my head. I got up a bit dazed. She punched me and it escalated. We banged into walls, a radiator, a door."
Alain Schmitt also had a bruised eye at a press conference. © AFP
Pinot detailed the alleged attack again alongside her lawyer at her own press conference and said Schmitt was lying and making her out to be a "hysterical woman."
Telling of a relationship allegedly riddled with controlling behavior and verbal abuse, Pinot says Schmitt wanted their relationship to be kept secret and often said her career would amount to little while picking holes in her personality.
The weekend bust-up allegedly started after Schmitt began making patronizing comments, and as she laid on her bed putting her fingers in her ears to avoid hearing his verbal abuse, Schmitt, who she says had broken things in her apartment before, started delivering blows.
Pinot said she thought to herself she would otherwise "die" if she didn't leave the apartment.
She has received support from fellow judo stars Clarisse Agbegnenou and Teddy Riner, who said more should be done to support domestic abuse victims, plus the country's judo federation.
Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu has also publicly backed Pinot, who she says is "is clearly the victim in what has happened."
No comments:
Post a Comment