British Socialite, Ghislaine Maxwell Found Guilty Of Recruiting Underage Girls To Be Sexually Abused By Boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein
British socialite, Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty on Wednesday of recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by the late American financier, Jeffrey Epstein.
The 60-year-old British socialite and ex-girlfriend of late billionaire financier, Epstein is now facing the prospect of years in prison.
The charges against Maxwell stemmed from 1994 to 2004. Two of Epstein’s alleged victims said they were as young as 14 when Maxwell allegedly began grooming them and arranging for them to give massages to Epstein that ended in sexual activity.
She was accused of recruiting and grooming four teenagers for Epstein to molest in massage rooms between 1994 and 2004 at his various properties.
Maxwell, who was described as “dangerous” and Epstein’s “partner in crime” by the prosecution during her three-week trial, was convicted on five of the six counts she was charged with.
She was cleared of “enticing a girl under 17 (an accuser with the pseudonym Jane) to travel with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity“.
That count alleged the defendant coerced Jane to travel from Florida to Manhattan so Epstein could have sex with her.
Maxwell had denied the charges in court and her defence claimed she was being scapegoated for the crimes of Epstein, who died by apparent suicide in 2019, while charged with operating a vast network of teenage girls to abuse.
She has spent almost a year and a half in prison in New York, and she and her family have repeatedly complained about the conditions at Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn.
The 60-year-old daughter of the late British press baron, Robert Maxwell could potentially spend the rest of her life behind bars.
Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors carries a maximum 40-year sentence. The lesser charges have terms of five or 10 years.
Maxwell sat passively in the Manhattan courtroom, slowly removing her mask to take sips of water, as Judge Alison Nathan read out the verdicts for each of the six counts.
Nathan offered her “sincere thanks” to the jury for their service, adding that they served with “diligence.”
Nathan then adjourned the proceedings and Maxwell walked out of the courtroom into detention as she has done every day of the trial. She will be sentenced at a later date.
