(New York) After three weeks of debate, the jury in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex crimes trial began deliberating on Monday to decide whether or not the British socialite was, as the prosecutor claimed, “a sophisticated predator who knew very well what she was doing ”.
Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, faces a very long prison sentence if 12 jurors find her guilty of providing young underage girls to Jeffrey Epstein – a multimillionaire American jet set financier – to exploit them sexually.
Jurors deliberated for nearly an hour at the end of the day and will meet again on Tuesday morning.
“It is time for her to be accountable,” prosecutor Alison Moe had launched in her indictment on the last day of a three-week trial.
According to the prosecutor, Mr.me Maxwell was “the key” to the system set up by Jeffrey Epstein to recruit young girls whom he sexually abused.
“They carried out their misdeeds together,” Alison Moe told the jury. ” Behind closed doors, […] they were committing horrible crimes. ”
Since the hearings began on November 29, prosecutors have sought to portray this Briton – who also has American and French nationality – as the accomplice between 1994 and 2004 of Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in prison two years earlier, awaiting his own trial.
In the Manhattan federal court room, Ghislaine Maxwell, dressed in a creamy white sweater and wearing a black mask, would often take notes that she passed to her attorneys or pasted on a file, while the prosecutor ensured that she was “guilty”.
Over the weeks of the trial, four women have testified against the daughter of former media mogul Robert Maxwell.
Two of the witnesses thus affirmed that they were not more than 14 years old when Ghislaine Maxwell encouraged them to lavish massages on Jeffrey Epstein, these ending in sexual acts.
One of them, known by the pseudonym “Jane”, detailed how Ghislaine Maxwell recruited her to a summer camp and made her feel “special”.
“Jane” also recounted how encounters and sex acts with Jeffrey Epstein had become routine, with Ghislaine Maxwell sometimes present.
Another witness, “Carolyn,” said she was usually paid $ 300 after each sexual encounter with Jeffrey Epstein, and that Ghislaine Maxwell often gave the money herself.
” No proof ”
In its oral argument Monday afternoon, the defense pointed to the prosecution’s “lack of evidence” and focused its line of defense on “the very poor and variable memory” of witnesses on events over 25 years old.
“There is no evidence that Ghislaine Maxwell has coaxed any of the four” women, who were then young girls, launched the lawyer Laura Menninger to the jurors.
These four witnesses “all changed their version when the Epstein fund was opened,” she said, referring to an official mechanism for reparations drawn from the billionaire’s fortune after his death.
The defense lawyer asked jurors to acquit his client on all counts.
Ghislaine Maxwell refused to testify, limiting herself only to declaring that the prosecution had not proven her guilt.
“Your honor, the prosecution has not provided evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, so I do not need to testify,” she said Friday.
The trial was expected to last until January but Ghislaine Maxwell could now know her fate before December 25, her 60th birthday.e birthday.
If the jury does not reach a verdict by Wednesday night, they will go their separate ways for the Christmas weekend before meeting again on Monday, December 27.
The jury must reach a unanimous decision to find Ghislaine Maxwell guilty. If not, then Judge Alison Nathan could cancel the trial, which will have to start from scratch.
Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty to all counts, for which she faces up to a total of 80 years in prison, including a maximum of 40 years for trafficking in minors.