- The ex-partner of the late US multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been found guilty of sex crimes.
- The twelve jurors of the trial in a New York court passed their verdict after several days of deliberations.
- The judge will determine the sentence at a later date.
In the trial, which has been ongoing since November, Maxwell was accused of having played a central role as an assistant to Epstein, who is networked in the highest circles, in setting up a ring on the sexual abuse of minors.
Maxwell faces long imprisonment
The 60-year-old was charged on six counts, including trafficking minors for abuse purposes. She was found guilty on five of these charges. She faces a longer sentence – Judge Alison Nathan will determine the sentence at a later date.
Maxwell had always denied the allegations and refrained from making a statement during the trial. The defense had presented the case from the start as a legal settlement and proxy process, since the public prosecutor could no longer prosecute Epstein itself.
“Sophisticated sex offender”
The prosecution had made serious allegations of sexual abuse against Maxwell. Maxwell was “dangerous” and a “sophisticated sex offender,” said prosecutor Alison Moe in her closing statement.
“She manipulated her victims and prepared them for sexual abuse,” the prosecution continued. Maxwell appeared “smart” and “smiling” and thus lured the alleged victims, who often came from problematic backgrounds, into a trap.
Maxwell’s defense attorney Laura Menninger, on the other hand, said her client was “an innocent woman, wrongly accused of crimes that she did not commit”. The prosecution’s indictment is based on faulty memories. Maxwell is the daughter of the legendary British publisher Robert Maxwell (1923-1991) and came to New York in the early 1990s.
Well-connected billionaire
She met Epstein at one of the numerous celebrity parties and was at times his girlfriend. Epstein’s environment described their role in his life as a mixture of employee and best friend. The abuse of numerous minors by Epstein is said to have taken place over decades on his properties in New York, Florida, Santa Fe or the Virgin Islands.
The case had also made waves in the USA because the extremely wealthy entrepreneur was known to celebrities such as ex-presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, billionaire Bill Gates and the British Prince Andrew. A previous charge against him ended in a very beneficial deal to Epstein – he became a symbol of an elite that can get away with anything.