Ghislaine Maxwell found guilty of helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse young girls
Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted on five of six counts related to the alleged sexual abuse and trafficking of underage girls.
Maxwell, who turned 60 behind bars on Christmas, faced a six-count indictment for allegedly conspiring with and aiding Epstein in his sexual abuse of underage girls between 1994 and 2004. She has been held without bail since her arrest in July 2020 and had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The verdict announced Wednesday closed a monthlong trial featuring about 30 witnesses and powerful accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14.
A jury of six men and six women weighed evidence and testimony for five full days, totaling over 30 hours. The trial, which began November 29, showcased disturbing testimony from four sexual abuse victims and illuminated Epstein’s connections to high-profile men, such as Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew.
Maxwell could be sentenced to up to 70 years in prison for the six counts she faced in this trial. She also faces two perjury counts that will be tried separately.
Epstein, her once boyfriend and longtime business associate, died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting his own sex abuse trial in 2019.
Throughout the week’s long trial, prosecutors sought to highlight how Maxwell was Epstein’s ‘partner in crime.’
‘Ghislaine Maxwell made her own choices. She committed crimes hand in hand with Jeffrey Epstein. She was a grown woman who knew exactly what she was doing,’ Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe said during closing arguments.
Maxwell’s attorneys argued she was being used as a scapegoat for Epstein and tried to discredit the accounts of her four accusers, saying their memories had been corrupted over the decades and that they were motivated by money.
‘Epstein’s death left a gaping hole in the pursuit of justice for many of these women,’ Maxwell’s defense lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said. ‘She’s filling that hole, and filling that empty chair.’
The jury began deliberating the Monday before Christmas, asking to review each testimony of the four women who testified against Maxwell. They also reviewed testimony from Epstein’s former housekeeper Juan Patricio Alessi, who testified that he regularly saw two of the accusers at Epstein’s Palm Beach home.
The first accuser, who testified under the name ‘Jane’ recalled years of abuse, filled with sexual massages under Maxwell’s instruction. She said Maxwell played a pivotal role in the abuse by normalizing the behavior, and even taking part in it on occasion.
Brave victims praised for speaking out
Prosecutors lauded the four women who had been brave enough to tell their stories despite the threat of fierce interrogation from the defense, who tried to discredit their stories.
The women, Jane, Kate, Carolyn and Annie, insisted their memories were accurate – and the jury believe them.
Jane had testified that she was 14 when the abuse from Epstein began. Kate detailed how Maxwell convinced her to give Epstein a sexualized massage.
Carolyn testified that ‘something sexual happened every single time’ she went to Epstein’s estate – where she visited over 100 times. And Annie recalled being touched inappropriately by both Epstein and Maxwell.
‘Kate,’ who also used a pseudonym, told the courtroom how Maxwell had asked her as a teen to recruit other ‘cute, young, pretty girls, like you’ who could give Epstein oral sex.
The third woman, Caroline, testified that she had visited Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Springs mansion over 100 times — and that ‘something sexual happened every single time.’
The fourth and final accuser to testify said that she was 16-years-old when Maxwell massaged her naked chest at Epstein’s New Mexico ranch.
The accuser, Annie Farmer, also told the courtroom that soon after her unpleasant encounter with Maxwell, Epstein climbed into her bed and said he ‘wanted to cuddle.’
Each of the four women who testified against Maxwell recounted similar experiences involving sexualized ‘massages’ that they claim Maxwell normalized, and oftentimes participating in them herself.
No sentencing date has been set.
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