Ghislaine Maxwell Charged with Sex-Trafficking & Grooming Minors

On Monday, Ghislaine Maxwell was charged by federal prosecutors for the first time for her role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

The longtime associate of Epstein was hit with charges of sex trafficking and grooming minors to engage in sexual acts.

The superseding indictment states some of the victims were as young as 14 years old.

Documents identify a 4th victim who was abused between 2001 and 2004.

The victim was used by Epstein & Maxwell to recruit other underage girls to engage in sexual acts.

It’s also believed that other unknown conspirators sent gifts to the underage girls.

With the latest charges against Maxwell, the question that remains is whether or not this leads to the arrest of other conspirators.

Breaking News: Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, was charged in federal court for the first time with sex-trafficking of a minor. https://t.co/uxOPl3kKoM

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 29, 2021

Ghislaine Maxwell Charged With Sex Trafficking Of 14-Year-Old Girl https://t.co/Oj7WulV3nf pic.twitter.com/Klpv5k3HNS

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) March 31, 2021

NEW – Ghislaine Maxwell hit with superseding indictment.

ID's a new minor victim – Maxwell charged with participating "in the sex trafficking of a minor"

Our latest:https://t.co/JWYGeSM6Un

— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) March 29, 2021

Big news: Ghislaine finally charged with sex trafficking of a minor, and the scope of the case against her is expanded to the early 2000shttps://t.co/btwOunFVu2

— TrueAnon (@TrueAnonPod) March 30, 2021

PSA 🗣: #Sussexsquad +Harry & Meghan Supporters.
It’s mega silly season for clickbait and BS stories about Harry & Meghan. WHY?
1.Ghislaine Maxwell federally charged with child sex trafficking means Prince Andrew’s day in the hot seat is potentially imminent pic.twitter.com/5Z5KwxfQPU

— Meghanpedia (@meghanpedia) March 31, 2021

"Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, was charged on Monday with sex trafficking of a minor, as federal prosecutors accused her of grooming a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual acts with Mr. Epstein & later paying her."@nytimes https://t.co/xKFZEhJcqo

— HTC (@DU_HTC) March 31, 2021

Prince Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing and strongly refutes the claims that have been made against him https://t.co/ifTerHuCjB

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 30, 2021

UPDATE: Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell has been charged with sex trafficking by Federal prosecutors. Her trial is set to begin in July. Watch #60Mins explosive investigation into the billionaire financier's 'right hand woman': https://t.co/Ci8imaQXeE pic.twitter.com/4Ert9Zg2UY

— 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) April 1, 2021

From the NY Times:

A new federal indictment filed in Manhattan charged that on multiple occasions between 2001 and 2004, the girl provided nude massages to Mr. Epstein at his Palm Beach, Fla., estate, during which he engaged in sex acts with her.

The new charges against Ms. Maxwell go further than those contained in an earlier indictment that accused her of helping Mr. Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately sexually abuse girls, but did not include sex trafficking allegations.

The new indictment says that after the girl provided Mr. Epstein with the massages, Ms. Maxwell or others who worked for him paid the girl hundreds of dollars in cash.

A lawyer for Ms. Maxwell did not respond to a request for comment on the new charges.

The indictment comes almost nine months after Ms. Maxwell, 59, once a fixture on New York’s social scene, was arrested in New Hampshire on charges she had lured underage girls — one as young as 14 — into Mr. Epstein’s orbit, and contributed to his abuse of them.

The indictment issued on Monday cites an additional 14-year-old girl who is identified only as Minor Victim-4.

Ms. Maxwell has been jailed since her arrest last year and is awaiting a trial, scheduled for July, in Federal District Court in Manhattan. She pleaded not guilty to the original charges.

The new indictment also says Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell each encouraged the girl to recruit other young women to provide sexualized massages to Mr. Epstein.

In response, the indictment says, the girl brought multiple women and girls to provide erotic massages for Mr. Epstein, and both she and the people she recruited were paid hundreds of dollars in cash.

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Mr. Epstein, 66, hanged himself in his cell at a jail in Manhattan in August 2019, a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. An indictment said Mr. Epstein had recruited dozens of minor girls to engage in sex acts with him at his mansion in Manhattan and the Palm Beach estate, after which he paid them hundreds of dollars in cash.

Prosecutors, in expanding their case against Ms. Maxwell, not only added two new counts — sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking conspiracy — but they also broadened the time period of the allegations they have made.

The original indictment alleged crimes by Ms. Maxwell from 1994 through 1997, leading her lawyers to argue, as they unsuccessfully sought her release on bail, that it was “inherently more difficult to prosecute cases relating to decades-old conduct.” They said that helped to “call into question the strength of the government’s case.”

The sex trafficking of Minor Victim-4 occurred between 2001 and 2004, the new indictment says.

It adds that Ms. Maxwell met the 14-year-old girl at the Palm Beach residence and over the next three years interacted there with her frequently, while knowing she was a minor.

The government made it clear in its original indictment that the process of grooming victims for sexual activity — the seemingly innocuous behavior by a predator to break down a victim’s barriers to abusive conduct — would be a central part of its case against Ms. Maxwell.