A Manhattan jury has found Ghislaine Maxwell guilty.
The verdict was announced in court on Wednesday, more than a year after the disgraced British socialite was arrested on sex abuse and sex trafficking charges. Maxwell, a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, is accused of recruiting and grooming underage girls for the deceased sex offender between 1994 and 2004. She was ultimately hit with a six-count indictment, which included charges of conspiracy, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, enticing a minor to travel to engage in criminal sexual activity, and sex trafficking of a minor.
Maxwell, who turned 60 on Christmas Day, pleaded not guilty to the charges earlier this year. She denied any wrongdoing and claimed she was being targeted not only for her wealth, but as a scapegoat for Epstein, who died by suicide while awaiting trial for sex crimes.
According to the Associated Press, the jury deliberated for five days before finding Maxwell guilty on all counts except for “enticement of a minor to travel with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity.”
“A unanimous jury has found Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of one of the worst crimes imaginable – facilitating and participating in the sexual abuse of children,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “I want to commend the bravery of the girls – now grown women – who stepped out of the shadows and into the courtroom. Their courage and willingness to face their abuser made this case, and today’s result, possible. This Office will always stand with victims, will always follow the facts wherever they lead, and will always fight to ensure that no one, no matter how powerful and well connected, is above the law.”
Maxwell is now facing decades in prison. A sentencing has yet to be scheduled.
