By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters). On Wednesday, Ghislaine Maxill’s lawyers would resume questioning of a woman who claimed that Jeffrey Epstein used her to abuse her as a teenager.

Jane (the pseudonym) was the witness for the government during Tuesday’s second day in the British socialite’s sex abuse case at Manhattan federal court. The woman claimed that Epstein tried to assist her in her performing arts career, but she then sexually assaulted her over the years.

Maxwell (59) is facing eight charges of sextrafficking and other criminal offenses, which include two perjury cases that will be separately tried. If she is convicted, she could face up to 80 year imprisonment.

Maxwell was the late British media magnate Robert Maxwell’s daughter. She has pleaded no guilty to Epstein’s charges and her attorneys have stated that they are trying to make Maxwell look bad. While awaiting her trial on charges of sex assault, the well-connected financier committed suicide in New York City in 2019.

Jane, who was emotional testifying on Tuesday that she experienced sexual encounters at Epstein’s Palm Beach home several times per month as a teenager and a 15-year-old when Epstein visited her. Jane stated that Maxwell touched her breasts and occasionally took part in the encounters.

Jane noted that Maxwell was acting “like it’s very normal.”

She said, “It made it feel confused because that didn’t feel normal to me.” “When your 14th birthday comes around, you can’t understand what’s really going on.”

Laura Menninger from Maxwell asked Jane, the Maxwell lawyer, about why she hadn’t reported the Maxwell and Epstein encounters to police until 2019. This was decades after the events.

Jane, three of the other accused in Maxwell’s case against Jane have been told by her lawyers that they have financial incentives to cooperate with the prosecutors. They stand to receive a reward from Epstein’s victim’s compensation fund.

Jane now in her late 40s stated that she had been embarrassed for many years to talk about these encounters.

What if you don’t feel shame or disgust, and you can’t describe it to anyone but your family? Jane agreed.

According to her, she told Matt about Epstein’s abuse after a relationship. Prosecutors said Matt will testify after Jane is done.