NEW YORK (Fwrd Axis) — British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday of five federal sex trafficking charges after a jury came to the conclusion she played a key role in recruiting and grooming teenage girls to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell was found guilty on five of the six counts against her, including one count that has a punishment of up to 40 years in prison. The British socialite faces up to 65 years in prison. The judge did not set a sentencing date.
The jury went through six days of deliberations and Maxwell was convicted of conspiracy to entice a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors and sex trafficking of minors.
Virginia Giuffre, one of the first victims to step forward said she would remember the day.
“I hope that today is not the end but rather another step in justice being served,” she said. “Maxwell did not act alone. Others must be held accountable. I have faith that they will be.”
The trial saw 30 witnesses take the stand over three weeks.
Maxwell’s defense tried to argue that Epstein pulled the strings and that prosecutors sought to take her down only because Epstein killed himself in prison back in 2019.
Maxwell was also charged with six counts for acts alleged to have been committed from 1994 to 1997 and accused of lying to investigators in 2016.
“Today’s verdict is a towering victory not just for the brave women who testified in this trial, but for the women around the world whose young and tender lives were diminished and damaged by the abhorrent actions of Ghislaine Maxwell,” Sigrid McCawley said.
