New York, Dec 29 (EFE).- British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty here Wednesday on charges she helped the late Jeffrey Epstein recruit, groom and sexually abuse multiple underage girls in the 1990s.
The federal jury of six men and six women convicted Maxwell on five of six counts, including sex trafficking of a minor, after some 40 hours of deliberation over six days.
As the sex-trafficking charge carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, Maxwell, who turned 60 on Christmas Day, could spend the rest of her life behind bars in the United States.
She has remained in custody since her arrest in July 2020.
The clarifications requested by the jurors during deliberations had led some observers to suggest that they were leaning in the direction of acquittal.
People who were inside the Manhattan federal courtroom when the verdict was read said that Maxwell betrayed no emotion, taking a few sips from a water bottle before whispering something to one of her lawyers.
The jury heard from four women who said that Maxwell enabled and – in some instances – participated in their sexual abuse at the hands of Epstein when they were minors.
The defendant, who pleaded not guilty on all counts, declined to take the witness stand.
“Your honor, the government has not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt and so there is no need for me to testify,” she said with the jury absent when Judge Alison Nathan asked Maxwell if she understood her right to speak in her own defense.
The charges against Maxwell were brought by the Office of the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which charged Epstein with sex trafficking of minors in July 2019.
The case against Epstein was formally closed after the 66-year-old financier was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019, in what coroners ruled a suicide, though experts retained by the dead man’s lawyers said he was murdered.
Defense attorneys insisted throughout the trial that Maxwell was being made a scapegoat for the crimes of Epstein.
“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.”
The crimes in the Maxwell case date back to the years between 1994 and 1997, when the daughter of disgraced British publishing magnate Robert Maxwell (1923-1991) was in an intimate relationship with Epstein and also managed properties of his in New York City; Palm Beach, Florida; and Santa Fe, Mexico.
Epstein, the source of whose wealth was never entirely clear, numbered many powerful people among his friends, including former US President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Britain’s Prince Andrew. EFE
© 2021 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc.
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Let Ghislaine Maxwell rot in prison and then go to **** when she dies. With regard to the bigger picture, the politicians, the CEO’s and the politically connected who had sex with these children will never be prosecuted. The FBI has all of the tapes that Jeffrey Epstein had, showing these elitists sleeping with these children and the politicized no justice FBI and the Department of No Justice has done nothing to prosecute the Bill Clintons, the Bill Gates and the Prince Andrews of the world. Where are all of the liberal women’s groups screaming for the rights of these young ladies that were sexually abused by these perverted elitists? Where is the communist MSM, as they are silent?
I find it messed up, SHE IS guilty and faces 40_ years, but all those RIOTERS AND LOOTERS from portland, seattle etc, ARE NOT CHARGED WITH attempted murder, for molotov cocktailling cops in cars and such, NOR ARE FACING EVEN A WEEK in jail….
COMMENT The rioters were sanctioned by the Democratic party, therefore no charges will be filed!
Sanctioned, Funded and SUPPORTED BY!
How hard they fall. On top of the world and flying high and then, in an instant, it all comes crashing down. Monetarily, Epstein and Maxwell lived the life we would all envy, but they added a bit too much spice. It is a shame when one has the ability to acquire such wealth, but possesses a fatal flaw that will eventually bring them to ruin.
I am shocked, she didn’t get Epstined….
They would have spent their time better trying her for obstruction of Justice in coverups on a trial in absentia of Epstein. Rich creeps like the both of them could not exist but for the perverted people of power that hire them and use their wealth and position for the pleasurable perversions of the bodies and souls of others. The more they multiply their wealth the more the destroy our America values when wealth and power are placed in the hands of people who think they are god, and as untouchable as a Clinton fresh back from an Arkansas dirt bath. There is a special place in hell for they who corrupt innocent women and use them, abuse them and then discard them like so much devoured carrion. Their craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth are not their equal. Taking away their power, their money, and their ability to freely move about and corrupt our children is the first and most pressing job of American leadership. Those who are not with us are with THEM and probably ARE them and many head American crime families who can rise to the very top of the Executive food chain, and when they fall, take us down with them.
NOW let’s do the same to the pervs in hollywood!!
I hope she starts singing like a canary or squeal like a pig. Name names ?? Bill Clinton ???
So she now has weeks to live.
Unfortunately the documents she has on everyone from the throne to the president will never be made public. It’s only a matter of time before suicide is in the news again.
AND you can bet the FBI, will “Accidentally LOSE” that paperwork.