The former house manager of Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach home has claimed he was warned to "never look" his boss in the eyes by Ghislaine Maxwell, The Guardian reports.

Speaking at the child-sex trafficking trial of British socialite Maxwell, former employee Juan Alessi described how she strictly controlled the running of Epstein's estate.

He also recalled seeing underage girls in the house when he worked there between 1990 and 2002.

Maxwell - who is currently on trial in Manhattan federal court - has pleaded not guilty to eight charges of sex trafficking and other crimes. If convicted, the 59-year-old socialite faces up to eighty years in prison for her alleged participation in Epstein's sexual abuse of minor girls.

Wealthy financier Epstein died by suicide at a New York City jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for charges of pedophilia and sexual abuse. His ex-girlfriend Maxwell - who prosecutors allege was also his "best friend and right hand" - evaded arrest until July 2020, when she was taken into custody by police at her New Hampshire estate.

Alessi, 71, appeared in court on Thursday to describe his experiences in the Palm Beach home where Epstein is alleged to have sexually abused girls as young as 14.

"Ms Maxwell was the girlfriend of Mr Epstein; I understand she was the lady of the house," Alessi recounted.

"From the day she came to the house, she right away took over, and she mentioned to me she was going to be the lady of the house."
He went on to recall how Maxwell told him not to look directly at Epstein.

"At the end of my stay, there was a time when she says: ‘Jeffrey doesn’t like to be looked at [in] his eyes.’"\

Alessi alleged that Maxwell told him: "You should never look at his eyes. Just look at another part of the room and answer to him."

Many of Epstein's victims allege they were brought into the house under the guise of giving him a massage, and then sexually assaulted. Alessi described how he cleaned up after these incidents and recalled "finding a large dildo," in the room, a "black vinyl or leather costume" in a basket, and on several occasions seeing massagers taken back to Epstein's room.

He also confirmed having seen two women who were minors in the house. One was Virginia Giuffre, a longtime accuser of Epstein and Maxwell who claims to have been coerced into sexual activity with Prince Andrew when she was 17.

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Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Employee says he was told not to look Jeffrey Epstein in the eyes