When was Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial?
CHARGES of child sex trafficking in association with Jeffrey Epstein led to Ghislaine Maxwell being found guilty.
In the wake of the disgraced British socialite’s guilty verdict, Ghislaine was also sentenced to prison for her crimes.
When was Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial?
Maxwell’s trial was originally scheduled to start on July 2, 2021, set by Judge Alison Nathan.
However, her trial officially began on November 29, 2021.
The socialite and ex of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was charged with multiple felony accounts some of which include human trafficking charges.
Maxwell’s lawyers painted the victims as in it for cash and claimed they were using Maxwell as a scapegoat for Epstein’s crimes.
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On Wednesday, December 29, she was of all charges but one.
What was she charged with?
Prosecutors alleged that between 1994 and 1997 she helped Epstein to groom girls as young as 14.
Maxwell was charged with six counts of perjury and sex trafficking offences:
- Count one: Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- Count two: Enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- Count three: Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- Count four: Transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- Count five and six: Perjury – the offense of willfully telling an untruth or making a misrepresentation under oath.
The 17-page indictment against Maxwell accused her of grooming and befriending victims, normalizing inappropriate behavior, being present during abuse to put victims at ease, encouraging victims to accept Epstein’s help, and encouraging victims to engage in sexual activity and taking part herself.
One accuser, Jennifer Araoz, said Maxwell was at the “center of his sex trafficking ring.”
She was found not guilty on one only charge, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts.
At the time, Maxwell potentially faced up to 80 years in prison, she went on to maintain her innocence.
On June 26, 2022, it was announced that she was placed on suicide watch just days before her sentencing.
On Tuesday, June 28, Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in jail.
What was her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?
Maxwell moved to New York in the early 1990s after her father, the media mogul Robert Maxwell, died.
She started dating Jeffrey Epstein in 1992 and remained in a close friendship until his fall from grace.
The court heard during the December 8 and 9 trial that Maxwell and Epstein were in a romantic relationship.
Prosecutors said that Maxwell and Epstein were “partners in crime” in the abuse of the girls.
The court saw never before seen photos of the couple kissing in a framed photograph.
The images were seized during a raid at one of Epstein’s mansions.
Maxwell would fly on his private jet, live with him in his mansions, and eventually get her own five-story Manhattan townhouse.
It is through Maxwell that Prince Andrew met the pedophile, Epstein.
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In 2000, Maxwell and Epstein attended a party thrown by Andrew at the Queen’s Sandringham House estate, in Norfolk.
After Epstein was arrested for sexually abusing minors, Maxwell claimed he was a “kind, generous, loving man”.