The first time I saw Ghislaine Maxwell, I followed her from the door of her luxurious brownstone down the streets of Manhattan, asking her about the horrific allegations against her. Nearly a decade later, I saw her for the final time, in court and no longer able to run away from the truth about her life with Jeffrey Epstein.
This is one of the most high-profile convictions of a woman for enabling a sex trafficking ring. And most importantly, it's a major victory for the more than 100 accusers who fought for more than a decade to have Epstein and his co-conspirators face criminal charges. The 60-year-old daughter of a British media tycoon has been found guilty of grooming and trafficking girls as young as 14 years old for sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
There were several powerful moments inside a packed courtroom in New York City, mainly from the prosecution which kept its case simple to avoid overwhelming the jury. Their aim was to show Maxwell was Epstein's partner in crime, a sexual predator whose modus operandi was clearly illustrated by four victims' experiences. The prosecution's opening statement to the jury began with 11 words that sounded like the start of a children's book. But for these women this was no fairytale. It was a nightmare and it was very real.
How real became apparent the following day when Jane took the stand. She testified that Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein approached her when she was 14 years old at a summer arts camp in 1994. Over the next two years, she said she was abused about every other week with Maxwell sometimes taking part. When asked about Maxwell's demeanour during these incidents, Jane said it seemed very casual, like it was very normal, like it was not a big deal. She said it made her feel confused because that did not feel normal to her and it was very embarrassing.
One of the most heart wrenching testimonies came from Carolyn, who testified under her first name. The woman was visibly broken down by years of trauma and addiction to pain killers and cocaine. She had been raped by her grandfather at four years old, dropped out of school in the 7th grade, and was neglected by a mother who abused substances. Carolyn told the court it was one of Epstein's most outspoken accusers Virginia Roberts, now Virginia Giuffre, that first told her at 14 years old that she could make money by massaging a wealthy friend of hers. Carolyn met Ghislaine Maxwell when she showed up at Epstein's mansion in 2001. Maxwell, she said, told Virginia to take her upstairs to the massage room and 'show her what to do.' Prosecutors told jurors that by this time period, Maxwell had devised a pyramid scheme of abuse that no longer required her to personally find young girls for Epstein. Instead, they would reward vulnerable girls who brought someone new with extra cash. Carolyn was paid hundreds of dollars to 'massage' Epstein on each of the over 100 encounters until she 'became too old.' She brought three other friends to Epstein. Carolyn said Maxwell once told her 'she had a great body for Epstein and his friends' before touching her breasts.
The teenage girls often came from troubled homes. Their families faced things like bankruptcy, substance abuse or previous sexual assault. And even when they didn't, Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein lured them in with friendship, gifts, and promises to help their careers or to pay for schooling. That 'grooming' process, prosecutors said, was a key part of Maxwell's 'playbook.' She then used the ruse of massages as an excuse to get the girls to touch Epstein and to normalise sexual contact. Prosecutors said Maxwell would walk the girls into a room to be molested and abused, and sometimes was present 'to make it all feel normal and casual.' The two other accusers in the indictment were at or over the age of consent in the places the abuse took place, and therefore the judge ruled the sex acts weren't illegal. Still, Kate going by a pseudonym, and Annie Farmer who publicly identified herself, were equally compelling on the stand to prove Maxwell's grooming tactics.
