{"id":1170133,"date":"2021-12-29T17:19:10","date_gmt":"2021-12-29T22:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1170133"},"modified":"2021-12-29T17:19:12","modified_gmt":"2021-12-29T22:19:12","slug":"ghislaine-maxwell-convicted-in-epstein-sex-abuse-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ghislaine-maxwell-convicted-in-epstein-sex-abuse-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghislaine Maxwell Convicted in Epstein Sex Abuse Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fghislaine-maxwell-convicted-in-epstein-sex-abuse-case%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1170133&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-1224326172-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">The verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14, told by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein\u2019s palatial homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Jurors deliberated for five full days before finding Maxwell guilty of five of six counts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">She faces the likelihood of years in prison \u2014 an outcome long sought by women who spent years fighting in civil courts to hold Maxwell accountable for her role in recruiting and grooming Epstein\u2019s teenage victims and sometimes joining in the sexual abuse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">The defense had insisted Maxwell was a victim of a vindictive prosecution devised to deliver justice to women deprived of their main villain when Epstein killed himself while awaiting trial in 2019.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">During the trial, prosecutors called 24 witnesses to give jurors a picture of life inside Epstein\u2019s homes \u2014 a subject of public fascination and speculation ever since his 2006 arrest in Florida in a child sex case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">A housekeeper testified he was expected to be \u201cblind, deaf and dumb\u201d about the private lives of Epstein, a financier who cultivated friendships with influential politicians and business tycoons, and Maxwell, who had led a jet-setting lifestyle as the favorite child of a media mogul.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Pilots took the witness stand and dropped the names of luminaries \u2014 Britain\u2019s Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump \u2014 who flew on Epstein\u2019s private jets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Jurors saw physical evidence like a folding massage table once used by Epstein and a \u201cblack book\u201d that listed contact information for some of the victims under the heading \u201cmassages.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">There were bank records showing he had transferred $30.7 million to Maxwell, his longtime companion \u2014 one-time girlfriend, later employee.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">But the core of the prosecution was the testimony of four women who said they were victimized by Maxwell and Epstein at tender ages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Three testified using first names or pseudonyms to protect their privacy: Jane, a television actress; Kate, a former model from Great Britain; and Carolyn, now a mom recovering from drug addiction. The fourth was Annie Farmer, a psychologist who chose to use her real name after being vocal about her allegations in recent years.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">They echoed one another in their descriptions of Maxwell\u2019s behavior: She used charm and gifts to gain their trust, taking an interest in their adolescent challenges and giving them assurances that Epstein could use his wealth and connections to fulfill their dreams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">They said the script would darken when Maxwell coaxed them into giving massages to Epstein that turned sexual, encounters she played off as normal: After one sexual massage, Kate, then 17, said Maxwell asked her if she\u2019d had fun and told her: \u201cYou are such a good girl.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Carolyn testified that she was one of several underprivileged teens who lived near Epstein\u2019s Florida home in the early 2000s and took up an offer to give massages in exchange for $100 bills, which prosecutors described as \u201ca pyramid of abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Maxwell made all the arrangements, Carolyn told the jury, even though she knew the girl was only 14 at the time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Jane said in 1994, when she was only 14, she was instructed to follow Epstein into a pool house at his Palm Beach estate, where he masturbated on her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">\u201cI was frozen in fear,\u201d she told the jury, adding that assault was the first time she had ever seen a penis. She also directly accused Maxwell of participating in her abuse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Maxwell\u2019s lawyer asked Jane why it had taken so long to come forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">\u201cI was scared,\u201d she said, choking back tears. \u201cI was embarrassed, ashamed. I didn\u2019t want anybody to know any of this about me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">The last to testify, Farmer described how Maxwell touched her breasts while giving her a massage at Epstein\u2019s New Mexico ranch and how Epstein unexpectedly crawled into bed and pressed himself against her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Maxwell, 60, vehemently denied the charges through her lawyers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Still, she declined to take the risk of testifying, telling the judge: \u201cThe government has not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt so there is no reason for me to testify.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">\u201cThe charges against Ghislaine Maxwell are for things that Jeffrey Epstein did,\u201d one of Maxwell\u2019s lawyers, Bobbi Sternheim, emphasized to the jury. \u201cBut she is not Jeffrey Epstein and she is not like Jeffrey Epstein.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Maxwell\u2019s legal team questioned whether the accusers\u2019 memories were faulty, or had been influenced by lawyers seeking big payouts from Maxwell and from Epstein\u2019s estate in civil court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">During their two-day presentation, they called as a witness Elizabeth Loftus, a University of California Irvine professor who has testified as a memory expert for defense lawyers at about 300 trials, including the rape trial of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">She said memory can be contaminated by suggestions made by an interviewer, particularly law enforcement or the media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Maxwell\u2019s family \u2014 faithfully in attendance each day of the trial \u2014 complained she was under duress from harsh conditions at the Brooklyn jail where she\u2019s been held since her arrest in July 2020. She had repeatedly, and futilely, sought bail, arguing that she was unable to adequately contribute to her defense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">The legal fights involving Epstein and Maxwell are not over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Maxwell still awaits trial on two counts of perjury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Component-root-0-2-202 Component-p-0-2-193\">Lawsuits involving the abuse allegations also continue, including one in which a woman not involved in the trial, Virginia Giuffre, says she was coerced into sexual encounters with Prince Andrew when she was 17. Andrew has denied her account and that lawsuit is not expected to come to trial for many months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein. The verdict capped a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1170133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1170133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1170133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1170133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1170133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}