Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty by a U.S. jury on Wednesday of helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.
Maxwell, 60, is accused of “recruiting” four teenagers for Epstein between 1994 and 2004. Epstein and Maxwell were a couple.
Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing underage girls.
Maxwell was convicted on five of the six charges, including one of sex trafficking. She is going to appeal against the conviction. She was acquitted on the charge that she seduced a minor into traveling to engage in illegal sex.
The trial lasted a month, during which four women portrayed Maxwell as the central figure in their abuse by Epstein. Three of the four said Maxwell touched their bare breasts themselves or took part in the encounters, which sometimes began as massages, with Epstein and his friends.
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Prosecutors allege Maxwell and Epstein conspired to set up a scheme to lure young girls into sexual relationships with Epstein from 1994 to 2004 in New York, Florida, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands. Her defense argued that she was a “scapegoat” for Epstein’s actions and attacked the memories and motivations of the women who say they were sexually abused. Maxwell’s lawyers argued that the women were only looking for money, as they benefited from a compensation fund for Epstein’s victims.
“The road to justice was far too long. “But justice has been done today,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “I want to praise the bravery of the girls – now mature women – who walked out of the shadows and into the courtroom. “Their courage and willingness to face their abuser made this case, and today’s outcome, possible.”
Source: Sky News, CNN
