On Wednesday, a US jury found Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of aiding the late financier Jeffrey Epstein in sexually abusing teenage girls. Thereby, capping a spectacular fall from grace for the British socialite.
Between 1994 and 2004, Maxwell, 60, was accused of recruiting and grooming four teenagers for Epstein. Epstein is her former partner who committed suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019. He was awaiting trial on sex abuse allegations of his own.
On five of the six counts, she was found guilty. Maxwell drew down her face mask and poured herself a drink of water once the decision was read.
Defense attorney Jeffrey Pagliuca patted Maxwell on the upper back as members of the jury confirmed one by one that their verdict was unanimous. As she walked out of the courtroom, an expressionless Maxwell gave a fleeting glance to two siblings in the front row.
Maxwell’s case, along with those of movie producer Harvey Weinstein and singer R. Kelly, is one of the most high-profile cases to emerge in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement. It pushed women to speak up about sexual abuse by powerful men.
“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.
A prosecutor said Maxwell was Epstein’s “partner in crime” during the trial’s closing statements in federal court in Manhattan.
Justice
In a statement, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams praised the verdict. Thus, saying Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of “one of the worst crimes imaginable.”
“The road to justice has been far too long,” his statement said. “But, today, justice has been done. I want to commend the bravery of the girls – now grown women – who stepped out of the shadows and into the courtroom.”
Maxwell’s lawyers argued that Epstein used her as a scapegoat. Also, that the claims of her four accusers were untrustworthy. Thereby, claiming that their memories had impaired over time and that money motivated them.
“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.”
In the 1990s, Maxwell dated Epstein for several years. During that time the two attended high society parties and flew on private jets.
Maxwell bought a $1 million property in Bradford, New Hampshire. It was a few months after Epstein died. She stayed out of the spotlight until her arrest in July 2020. Maxwell had “slithered away,” according to an FBI official.
Maxwell, the daughter of British press baron Robert Maxwell, had grown up surrounded by luxury.
Her father established a publishing firm and owned several tabloids, including the Daily Mirror. In 1991, he was discovered dead off the coast of the Canary Islands on his yacht.
Graphic Testimony
Judge Alison Nathan of the United States District Court did not announce when Maxwell will get a sentence. Before reaching a decision, the jury deliberated for five days.
During the trial, jurors heard emotional and graphic testimony from four women. Two of them testified that Epstein started assaulting them when they were 14 years old. Maxwell had inappropriately touched three of the ladies, according to three of the victims.
A green massage table was taken from Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, an estate in 2005. Prosecutors showed it to the jury. Three of the four accusers claimed they provided Epstein massages that turned sexual.
Maxwell’s role in Epstein’s atrocities, as well as the financier’s relationships with famous persons like former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, Britain’s Prince Andrew, and billionaire investor Leon Black, also highlighted by Epstein’s arrest and suicide. No one has been charged in connection with Epstein’s crimes.
The prince, a former friend of Epstein’s, is being sued in Manhattan. It is for allegedly sexually abusing Virginia Giuffre, another of Epstein’s accusers. Andrew has refuted her allegations.
“It did not feel normal to me”
The charge of luring an underage girl to travel for illegal sexual behavior carried a maximum sentence of five years in jail.
That charge only applied to a lady who went by the alias Jane. She testified that she was 14 years old when Epstein began abusing her in 1994.
Jane stated she frequently traveled to Epstein’s houses in New Mexico and New York. It is where some of the assaults occurred. Also, Ghislaine Maxwell occasionally assisted her with travel arrangements.
Jane claimed that Maxwell took part in her sexual contact with Epstein on occasion. Maxwell pretended it was nothing out of the ordinary.
“It made me feel confused because that did not feel normal to me,” Jane said. “I’d never seen anything like this or felt anything like this.”
Despite the not guilty verdict on that point, the jury seemed to believe Jane’s story in other ways. They found Maxwell guilty of transferring a minor for illicit sex activities, a charge that only applied to Jane.
During her closing argument, Moe stated that Maxwell’s presence made young girls feel at ease around Epstein. Otherwise, receiving an invitation to spend time with a middle-aged man would have been “creepy” and “set off alarm bells” if it hadn’t been for Maxwell.
Money will never fix what that woman has done to me
“Epstein could not have done this alone,” she said.
Moe reminded jurors of bank documents shown throughout the trial. It revealed that Epstein had paid Maxwell millions of dollars over the years. Maxwell, she alleged, was driven to do whatever it needed to keep Epstein pleased so she could retain her opulent lifestyle.
During closing arguments, defense counsel Laura Menninger replied that Maxwell was an innocent woman. Also, that prosecutors had not established beyond a reasonable doubt that Maxwell was aware of or complicit in any of the crimes perpetrated by Epstein.
During the trial, Maxwell’s lawyers pushed back hard on the accusers’ allegations, claiming that their stories had changed over time.
The ladies were allegedly compelled to accuse Maxwell because they had each earned a million-dollar payment. It was from a compensation fund for Epstein’s victims, according to Maxwell’s defense.
The women, on the other hand, contested those portrayals. Thereby, claiming that they chose to testify out of a desire for justice rather than money.
“Money will not ever fix what that woman has done to me,” testified one woman. She goes by the name Carolyn.