Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty today of five of the six felony counts brought against her related to her work and relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The 60-year-old former socialite and ex-girlfriend of billionaire financier Epstein is now facing the prospect of 65 years in prison.
Maxwell was convicted on five of the six counts she was charged with. She was accused of recruiting and grooming four teenagers for Epstein between 1994 and 2004.
Maxwell was found guilty of recruiting underage girls to be abused by Epstein as well as transporting and sex trafficking them.
The one count she was cleared of was “enticing a girl under 17 (an accuser with the pseudonym Jane) to travel with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity.”
The onetime Epstein employee was convicted on the following charges:
- Conspiracy to entice a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts GUILTY
- Conspiracy to transport a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity GUILTY
- Transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity GUILTY
- Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors GUILTY
- Perjury related to testimony given in 2016 (two counts) GUILTY
“The road to justice has been far too long. But, today, justice has been done,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “I want to commend the bravery of the girls — now grown women — who stepped out of the shadows and into the courtroom. Their courage and willingness to face their abuser made this case, and today’s result, possible.”
The jury, which was made up of six women and six men deliberated for about 40 hours, across parts of six days.
The jury’s decision represents a concluding chapter in a disturbing saga of abuse that stretches nearly three decades.
Prosecutors argued 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. Four women testified during the trial that Epstein abused them and that Maxwell facilitated the abuse and sometimes participated in it as well.
