The jury in the Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking trial has reached its verdict.
Ms Maxwell, 59, had pleaded not guilty to six federal counts, including sex trafficking of minors, enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three related counts of conspiracy.
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The prosecution case hinged on the testimony of four women who said they were sexually exploited by Ms Maxwell and Epstein as teenagers in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Two testified under the pseudonyms “Jane” and “Kate”, a third went only by her first name Carolyn, while Annie Farmer gave evidence under her full name.
They told of being lured into Epstein’s orbit under the false impression that Ms Maxwell was a “sisterly” figure who wanted to help them with scholarships and introduce them to her network of powerful contacts.
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Prosecutors described Ms Maxwell as a “sophisticated predator” who had ran a playbook of abuse “again and again” as she targeted vulnerable young girls, and acted as an “age-appropriate” cover for Epstein’s offending.
Epstein died by suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking offences.
Similarities between the testimony of four women who said they were abused as teenagers was “incredibly powerful evidence of the defendant’s guilt”, according to the prosecution.
Defence attorneys had argued Ms Maxwell was a scapegoat for Epstein’s crimes, and was made to look like “Cruella de Vil and The Devil Wears Prada all wrapped up into one”.
“Ghislaine is being tried here for being with Jeffrey Epstein. Maybe it was the biggest mistake of her life. But it is not a crime,” Laura Menninger said in her closing argument to the jury on Monday.
The jury spent nearly 40 hours deliberating over six days from 20 December to 29 December, with a four-day hiatus for the Christmas holiday.
Ms Maxwell had displayed an upbeat demeanour at the outset of the trial, hugging her defence attorneys and passing handwritten notes to them, chatting to her siblings in the front row of the public gallery, and listening closely to the evidence.
Towards the end of the trial, she showed signs of fatigue and frustration at the way the trial had unfolded. During prosecutor Maureen Comey’s closing rebuttal on Monday, she shook her head and wiped away tears as the US assistant attorney attacked the defence’s portrayal of the four accusers.
Photo Credit: Getty
