Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
One of Ghislaine Maxwell's accusers testified Tuesday that she was just 14 years old when the British socialite had her undress, fondled her and told her she had a "great body" that financier Jeffrey Epstein would enjoy.
The woman, who was identified only by her first name, Carolyn, was the third witness to testify at the sex trafficking trial about being sexually abused by Epstein in encounters facilitated by Maxwell, his one-time girlfriend and, later, employee.
Carolyn offered some of the most explicit descriptions so far at the New York trial of Maxwell's alleged grooming of underage victims, who prosecutors say were lured into "a pyramid scheme of abuse."
At times choking up, she testified that she was a heavy drug user and middle school dropout when she was first taken to Epstein's estate in Palm Beach, Florida, by an older teenage friend, Virginia Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre.
They were greeted by Maxwell, who said "You can take her upstairs and show her what to do," Carolyn testified.
She said Giuffre and Epstein had sex while she watched. She added she was paid US$300 in US$100 bills at the end of the encounter.
"I was young and $300 was a lot of money to me," Carolyn said.
After that, she became a regular at the estate, hired to perform sexualized massages.
Maxwell knew she was only 14 at the time, but that didn't dissuade her, Carolyn testified.
She told jurors that during one encounter in Epstein's massage room in the early 2000s, Maxwell "felt my boobs and my hips and my buttocks and she said I had a great body for Mr. Epstein and his friends."
Maxwell, 59, has denied charges she groomed underage girls for Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019. Her lawyers say the government is making her a scapegoat for Epstein's sex crimes.
Prosecutors say Carolyn was one of several vulnerable teens from troubled backgrounds who were pulled into a scheme where Maxwell and Epstein would encourage girls in low-income parts of Florida to find other young victims to bring to his home, in exchange for a finder's fee.
Giuffre would later become perhaps the best known of Epstein's accusers for her allegations that the financier and Maxwell flew her around the world, starting at age 17, to have sex with numerous famous and influential men, including Britain's Prince Andrew.
All of those men, including Andrew, have denied those allegations and they are not expected to be part of the trial.
A prosecutor asked Carolyn who else saw her "fully naked" at Epstein's home. She responded it was Maxwell, two of Epstein's "friends" and two "girls." She didn't say whether the friends were men or women and didn't elaborate on what happened with them.
Giuffre has acknowledged recruiting girls into Epstein's circle, claiming she was coerced into doing so by Maxwell. The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual abuse unless they decide to tell their stories publicly, as Giuffre has.
Carolyn faced a cross-examination in which a defense lawyer sought to highlight what the defense says were discrepancies between her testimony and a 2008 lawsuit she brought against Epstein in which Maxwell wasn't mentioned. The lawsuit was settled for US$250,000.
"Ms. Maxwell was not a topic of discussion at that time," she said.
During the cross examination, she repeated her allegation that Maxwell had "fondled" her, adding, "because of that, my heart is broken and so is my soul."
The testimony came on a day when prosecutors indicating they could finish presenting their case to the jury as soon as Thursday. The defense could then call witnesses.
Prosecutors on Tuesday showed the jury more than a dozen photographs of Epstein and Maxwell, including one of the couple swimming together while nude. Defense lawyers had objected to the photo, but prosecutors successfully argued it could be used to back up witness testimony about scenes from Epstein's Florida home and show that the pair had more than an employee-boss relationship.
Carolyn testified that she and Epstein discussed the fact that she was underage and that she was a victim of sex abuse as a young child.
Each meeting would end with him masturbating and touching her breasts and buttocks: "Something sexual would happen every single time," she said.
She stopped seeing Epstein for a while when she had a baby in 2004, but she tried to go back to doing massages at age 18 because she needed the money, in part to pay for a drug habit. Epstein only wanted her if she had younger friends to bring around.
"That's when I realized I was too old," she said.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.