Ghislaine Maxwell has been in prison for two years. The accomplice of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been found guilty by a New York grand jury of child sex trafficking. Now the sentence will be announced.
For a long time, Ghislaine Maxwell seemed to lead an enviable life: she had a lot of money and, thanks to her name, access to high society. But the British woman's luxurious jet set life is over, she has been in prison for two years. In December, a New York grand jury found the longtime confidante of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein guilty of child sex trafficking. Her sentence is to be announced on Tuesday - the 60-year-old faces imprisonment until the end of her life.
After Epstein's alleged suicide in a prison cell in 2019, the US judiciary promised to hold his accomplices accountable. Maxwell was finally found guilty of having recruited young girls for sexual abuse by the well-connected financial investor for years.
The daughter of the late British media mogul Robert Maxwell is said to have acted in a highly perfidious manner. According to the indictment, she befriended young girls, the youngest of whom was only 14, took them to the movies or went shopping and then handed them over to the multi-millionaire.
Maxwell persuaded the teens to travel to Epstein's homes in New York, Florida and New Mexico and give the multi-millionaire nude massages before they were abused. In order to "normalize and facilitate the sexual abuse," Maxwell also undressed himself, according to the indictment. Sometimes she participated in the abuse, for example by touching the young girls on the chest.
Maxwell was a "sophisticated sex offender who knew exactly what she was doing," prosecutor Alison Moe said in her closing argument in December. "Epstein liked underage girls, he liked touching underage girls. Maxwell knew that." She was "the key" in the Epstein system. According to prosecutors, Maxwell was handsomely rewarded for this: Between 1999 and 2007, Epstein transferred $30 million to her.
Maxwell himself has denied all allegations. Her defense argued that Maxwell had to be used as a "scapegoat" because Epstein could not be tried after his death. After the guilty verdict, the defense called for a new trial because of the abuse experiences of one of the jurors, which only became known afterwards. The application was rejected in early April.
In mid-June, Maxwell then asked for a light sentence - instead of the possible 40 years, no more than 20 years in prison. Her attorneys argued that Maxwell's "traumatic childhood with a domineering, narcissistic and demanding father" made her "vulnerable to Epstein," whom she met shortly after her father's death.
Maxwell, who was born in France and studied at Oxford, was Epstein's first lover, later his close friend and collaborator. For years she was a fixture on Manhattan's party scene. Like Epstein, she socialized with celebrities such as the family of former US President Bill Clinton, real estate entrepreneur and later President Donald Trump and Britain's Prince Andrew.
Vanity Fair magazine wrote in 2011 that Maxwell was "always the most interesting, spirited, most unusual person in the room" at parties. Her address book is second to none.
Maxwell has a colorful family history. Her father Robert, who had built up one of the largest media groups in the world, fell off the Canary Islands in 1991 from his yacht "Lady Ghislaine", named after his favorite daughter. After his death, it was revealed that more than £400m was missing from the company pension fund, which was used to bail out loss-making companies in the group. The family's reputation was ruined.
Now the family name will forever be linked to the Epstein scandal. Judge Alison Nathan could ensure that Maxwell is never released on Tuesday.
