The former companion of Jeffrey Epstein, the British Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted on Wednesday by a New York court of a series of sex crimes, in particular the most serious: the trafficking of young underage girls for the benefit of the ex – American financial.
Ms Maxwell, 60, who faces decades in prison, has been appearing in Manhattan federal court since late November on six counts, including providing minors to her former partner for him to sexually abuse. between the years 1994 and 2004. Mr. Epstein died in prison in 2019.
After 40 hours of deliberation spread over five days, “a unanimous jury found Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of one of the worst crimes imaginable – facilitating and taking part in the sexual assault of children”, Manhattan Federal District Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
These “crimes were perpetrated with his lifelong partner and accomplice, Jeffrey Epstein”, who committed suicide in a New York prison in August 2019, even before being tried for sex crimes.
“Courage of the girls”
“The path to righteousness has taken too long. But justice was delivered today, “welcomed the prosecutor, praising the” courage of young girls – become women “, four victims who testified for three weeks against Ms. Maxwell.
At the verdict, Ms Maxwell, favorite daughter of press mogul Robert Maxwell and figure of the European and American jet set, was surrounded by her brother Kevin and her sisters Isabel and Christine. Her lawyer Bobbi Sternheim simply asked Judge Alison Nathan to ensure that the 60-year-old received a third dose of the Covid vaccine in her New York prison.
Ghislaine Maxwell, who turned 60 on Christmas Day and who is British, French and American at the same time, has been incarcerated since her arrest in the summer of 2020 in the northeastern United States, a year after the suicide of ‘Epstein.
Pressure on the jury
After three weeks of debate, the jury – six women and six men – had all the trouble in the world to agree unanimously on a verdict. So much so that speculation has been rife on a possible acquittal, or even a new trial.
Judge Nathan even had to put pressure on the jury by worrying about the “astronomical peak” of Omicron variant contaminations of COVID-19 in New York which could have postponed the outcome of the trial beyond the New Year if one of the parties to the trial had fallen ill.
The prosecution portrayed Ms Maxwell as a “sophisticated predator” who acted knowingly to entice and seduce young girls, sometimes as early as 14, to have coerced sex with Epstein in his residences. from Florida, New York or New Mexico. Often in the presence of the heiress Maxwell.
The shadow of celebrities
Four women, including three under pseudonyms, testified against the accused who, she pleaded not guilty and spoke only once to reaffirm that she was innocent.
Besides Jeffrey Epstein, other celebrity shadows have hovered over this trial: British Prince Andrew, a relative of Mr. Epstein, has been the subject since August of a separate complaint for “sexual assault” filed by an American, Virginia Giuffre.
The names of former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump have also been mentioned because of their presence at parties with the Epstein-Maxwell couple in New York or Florida in the 1990s, with supporting photos.
Finally, on the French side, the former model agent Jean-Luc Brunel, friend of Epstein, was indicted and imprisoned in Paris in December 2020 for rape and sexual assault.
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