GHISLAINE Maxwell was quizzed by lawyers over claims young girls were groped using a PUPPET at Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion.
The bizarre claims are featured in explosive documents released today relating to Maxwell’s 2015 defamation lawsuit brought by sex trafficking victim Virginia Roberts.
In her book manuscript Virginia alleged Prince Andrew groped her and another woman using a Spitting Image-style puppet of himself while he stayed at Epstein’s New York home.
The Duke of York denies all allegations of misconduct made against him.
In the bombshell legal docs, Maxwell is asked about the visit of a guest – whose name is redacted – to the paedophile’s mansion.
After an exchange in which Ghislaine and the lawyer debate the exact definition of a puppet, the socialite finally admits: “There was a puppet – not a puppet. I don’t know how would you describe it really,
“Not a puppet, I don’t know how you would describe it. A caricature of (name redacted) that was in Jeffrey’s home.”
She is then asked if she put the hand of the “caricature” on an alleged victim’s “breast.”
Maxwell answered: “I don’t recollect. I recollect the puppet but I don’t recollect anything around the puppet.
“You characterised puppet, I characterise it as, I don’t know, as a characterisation of REDACTED.”
She said she did not remember whether she asked Virginia to sit on the lap of the unnamed person along with the puppet.
Maxwell was asked: “Did you ever, not as a gift, did you ever see (name redacted) in the presence of a puppet?
“Were you ever in a room with (name redacted) where there was a puppet?”
There is another missing paragraph which has been blacked out in this section about the “caricature.”
The Sun Online has approached Prince Andrew’s representatives for comment.
In her book, Virginia describes how the incident allegedly occurred after Maxwell summoned her to a room in Epstein’s mansion during a visit by the prince in 2001, the Mirror reports.
She wrote: “Prince Andrew had that notorious cheesy grin slapped over his face, as he looked me up and down like a shiny new car on display and he was about to take it for a test drive.”
“Ghislaine led me to the decadent sofa he was lounging on and twirled me around to give him a good look over before sitting me down on his lap.
“It was easy to give them the reaction they desired, all I had to do was pretend to be entertained by their lewd gestures, and when Andrew cupped my breast with a doll made in his image, I only giggled away.”
Virginia alleges that she was forced to have sex with the Duke of York on three separate occasions – claims Andrew strongly denies.
Maxwell was arrested on July 2 in Bradford, New Hampshire, where authorities said she was hiding on a property she bought in December in an all-cash transaction with her identity shielded.
She is locked up in a Brooklyn jail after the judge in her criminal case called her an unacceptable flight risk.
The Brit pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and groom underage girls as young as 14 and not guilty to perjury after having denied involvement in the alleged trafficking scheme under oath.
On Monday, the Manhattan circuit court of appeals rejected an argument by Maxwell that the files from her lawsuit with Virginia could impede her defence and today the tranche of documents was made public.
A trial is scheduled for July 2021.
Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his New York jail cell last August where he was being held on charges of sex trafficking minors.
His death was officially ruled as suicide.
