In an extract from her posthumous memoir, Virginia Giuffre recounts the moment she was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago, when she was just 16. Giuffre, then known as Virginia Roberts and called Jenna by her family, was working at the resort's spa, where her father maintained the air-conditioning units and tennis courts.
Giuffre describes being introduced to Donald Trump by her father, who was proud of his daughter's job. Trump asked if she babysat, and she soon earned extra money minding children of the elite in his neighbouring houses. But it was at the spa that she caught Maxwell's attention.
One hot afternoon, Maxwell's car slowed near Giuffre as she walked to work. Maxwell, a British socialite, instructed her driver to stop, then approached Giuffre in the spa. Introducing herself with a warm smile, Maxwell asked about Giuffre's interest in massage and engaged her in conversation over tea.
Giuffre later realised the encounter was a predatory move. She writes that Maxwell was an 'apex predator' closing in, and that this meeting marked the beginning of her abuse and trafficking to wealthy and powerful men. The memoir describes how her innocence was exploited by those she trusted.
