Ghislaine Maxwell has been found guilty of assisting her late ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein in the sexual abuse of teenage girls, Global News reports. The 60-year-old was convicted on five of six counts after the jury spent five whole days deliberating.
The French-born socialite was accused of "recruiting and grooming four teenagers for Epstein between 1994 and 2004." As you may remember, the financier died by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial for his sex abuse charges back in 2019.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe said "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," following the guilty verdict announcement. Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York commented that Maxwell was convicted of "one of the worst crimes imaginable" while applauding the jury's decision.
"The road to justice has been far too long. 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," he continued.
When defending the convicted felon, Maxwell's attorneys claimed that she was being used as a "scapegoat" for Epstein in the wake of his death, seeking to discredit the accounts of her four accusers, saying that all the time that had passed since the alleged abuse occurred had "corrupted" their memories.
"Epstein’s death left a gaping hole in the pursuit of justice for many of these women," defense lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said. "She’s filling that hole, and filling that empty chair.”
Davidoff Studios Photography/Getty Images
It remains unclear when Maxwell's sentencing is set to take place, but be sure to check back in with HNHH for updates in the future. Earlier this month, we shared a story about former President Donald Trump's involvement in Jeffrey Epstein's life – read more about that here.
[Via]