Epstein’s ex-girlfriend was found guilty of helping in sexual abuse – SME.sk

NEW YORK. Ghislaine Maxwell, a former friend of the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein, was found guilty in the United States on Wednesday of helping Epstein in the sexual abuse of underage girls.

Maxwell was convicted by a 12-member jury on five of the six counts, including the most serious – trafficking in minors for sexual purposes.

The jury consulted for five days

The 60-year-old daughter of former British media mogul Robert Maxwell is in danger of spending the rest of his life in prison, AFP reports. He adds that trafficking in minors for sexual purposes is punishable by up to 40 years in prison in the United States, while the remaining offenses have convicted the British of five to ten years.

The jury consulted on the verdict for a total of five working days (40 hours), starting on December 20 with a four-day so-called during the Christmas break, the BBC station is approaching. Date of issue judgment with the amount of the sentence has not yet been determined.

Related article

Related article She was looking for girls who were being abused by Epstein. The trial of Ghislane Maxwell has begun Read

The allegations against Maxwell concerned crimes committed in 1994-2004. Two of Epstein’s alleged victims claimed that Maxwell, as a 14-year-old, had begun to persuade them to provide Epstein with massages that eventually ended in sexual practices.

Maxwell was arrested in 2020. Prosecutors described her during the trial as a “sophisticated predator” who knew what she was doing and also Epstein’s “key” ally in the abuse of girls.

Maxwell’s team of lawyers again claimed that “there was not enough evidence” in the case. Advocates have also argued that Maxwell is a kind of “scapegoat” in the case, as Epstein himself can no longer be condemned. Maxwell herself did not testify in court, but denies any wrongdoing and all the allegations.

Epstein committed suicide

In August 2019, financier Epstein hanged himself in his cell, according to the official version.

Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019 in Teterbor, New Jersey after returning from a private plane in Paris.

He was subsequently charged with setting up a criminal network that allowed him to sexually abuse dozens of underage girls. The youngest victims were only 14 years old at the time.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Epstein paid for teenage girls for massages in 2002-2005 and subsequently sexually abused them in his homes in Florida and New York.

Epstein denied the allegations and asked for bail, which was denied. He was threatened with 45 years in prison if he was found guilty.