Ghislaine Maxwell Found Guilty of Helping Epstein Sexually Abuse Underage Girls

Sarah RumpfDec 29th, 2021, 5:17 pm
 

The Manhattan jury in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial returned guilty verdicts in five of the six charges against her on Wednesday afternoon, after six days of deliberations.

Maxwell was facing federal charges that included conspiracy, violations of the Mann Act, and human trafficking for her role as Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidante and accused accomplice, related to Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage girls. Epstein had pled guilty in 2018 to state-level prostitution charges, and was then indicted on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019. While he was in prison awaiting trial, he died by suicide a month later.

Maxwell was arrested in 2020 and was denied bail due to the seriousness of the charges against her, her personal wealth, and past history of evading law enforcement, which made her a flight risk.

The sole charge for which the jury found Maxwell not guilty was for “Enticement of an Individual under Age 17 to Travel in Interstate Commerce with Intent to Engage in Illegal Sexual Activity,” as pertained to allegations made by one specific accuser.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Maxwell conspired with Epstein to lure underage girls into sexual relationships with him and others, in a wide-ranging and long-running scheme from 1994 to 2004, in New York, Florida, and other locations.

Four former victims testified during the trial that Epstein had sexually abused them, and that Maxwell had not only assisted Epstein in facilitating their abuse, but sometimes was also a participant in the sexual assaults.

As Law & Crime’s Adam Klasfeld reported, the sixth and final count alone, which was the substantive sex trafficking count, “carries a maximum penalty of 40 years imprisonment, effectively a life sentence for a woman who turned 60 years old on Christmas Day.”

The remaining charges carry a maximum 30 years imprisonment.

Watch the video above, via CNN.

This is a breaking story and has been updated. 

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.