Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

A trial judge has concluded there was enough evidence to convict Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Related Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min learn

NEW YORK -- A decide concluded Friday that there was enough evidence to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, but she also gave Maxwell a authorized victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the identical crime and she will solely be sentenced for one.

U.S. District Decide Alison J. Nathan stated in her written ruling that the jury’s responsible verdicts were “readily supported” by in depth witness testimony and documentary proof at a one-month trial that concluded in December.

Attorneys for Maxwell had asked her to reject the decision on a number of grounds, together with insufficient proof.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage women for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse from 1994 to 2004.

Nathan stated that she'll only sentence Maxwell in late June on three of the 5 counts she was convicted on after concluding that two conspiracy counts have been duplicates of the third.

“This legal conclusion on no account calls into query the factual findings made by the jury. Rather, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — three times over — that the Defendant is responsible of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and visitors underage girls for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The reduction of counts from 5 to 3 was not anticipated to have much impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell may face a sentence starting from a number of years to decades in jail.

Legal professionals for Maxwell did not return messages requesting comment. Prosecutors declined comment.

Earlier this month, the judge refused to toss out Maxwell's conviction after a juror disclosed to different jurors throughout jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a baby regardless that he had not revealed that fact in response to questions about prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had mentioned he “skimmed approach too fast” by means of the questionnaire and didn't intentionally give the incorrect reply to a question about intercourse abuse.

In refusing to toss the verdict, Nathan mentioned the juror’s failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse throughout the jury selection process was highly unlucky, but not deliberate.

The judge also concluded the juror “harbored no bias toward the defendant and could function a good and impartial juror.”

Maxwell, arrested in July 2020, has remained incarcerated. Epstein was 66 when he took his own life in a federal jail cell in August 2019 as he awaited a sex trafficking trial.