Ghislaine Maxwell, Longtime Companion of Jeffrey Epstein, Found Guilty
- Details
- Category: Crime
- Published on Friday, 31 December 2021 10:45
- Written by Janet Walker
Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, was found guilty this week of five counts of sex trafficking for her role in procuring and grooming underage girls for Epstein and others to sexually assault.
"Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement Wednesday night: "The road to justice has been far too long. But, today, justice has been done. I want to commend the bravery of the girls — now grown women — who stepped out of the shadows and into the courtroom,"' reported The New York Times.
Robert Durst, NY Real Estate Heir, Found Guilty of Murder
Judge Alison J. Nathan read the verdict pronouncing Maxwell guilty on five of the six counts. The jury deliberated five full days before reaching the verdict, repeatedly asking for additional clarification and readback of testimony from key witnesses.
The former socialite was found guilty of one count of sex trafficking of a minor, one count of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and three counts of conspiracy. Maxwell was acquitted on one count of enticing a minor to travel across state lines to engage in an illegal sexual act. She faces up to 70 years in prison.
Additionally, she still faces two counts of lying to a federal grand jury during deposition of her former companion Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell, the daughter of British publishing mogul Robert Maxwell, was at onetime an affluent member of British society, hobnobbing with the world's rich and famous including Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who has been pulled into this triangle through a photograph and accusation of a female who has retained Manhattan lawyer David Boies, the powerhouse attorney who once represented former Vice President Al Gore during the 2000 Election dispute which landed in front of the Supreme Court, to secure justice.
Former Olympic Coach Commits Suicide After Charges Announced
The tangled web of deceit, covered by years of denials by the affluent, prominent, and once respected, and the unlimited resources available to hide the truth were only a part of the reason for the delay in justice. Perception bias, and the judicial systems refusal to indict their own and others of stature presented massive roadblocks to this day. The system that is now providing a measure of closure is the same system that refused to believe, to hear, help or assist.
"One of Ms. Maxwell's lawyers, Bobbi C. Sternheim, said outside the courthouse: "We firmly believe in Ghislaine's innocence. Obviously, we are very disappointed with the verdict. We have already started working on the appeal and we are confident that she will be vindicated,"' reported The New York Times.
With an appeal already in progress, there is much speculation as to any deal the former madam to Epstein might receive for her information and will the deal include freedom in exchange for evidence that leads to the arrests of the men who regularly raped and sexually abused the then underage girls.
While it is doubtful Maxwell, a British citizen, will ever provide information on the Duke of York, she may be willing to provide information on every American citizen who became fast friends with the extremely wealthy Epstein.
Disgraced Hollywood Mogul Harvey Weinstein Found Guilty
Maxwell has been incarcerated since her arrest in July 2020 at a palatial estate in New Hampshire. No sentencing date has been announced.
Epstein died of an apparent suicide in a New York Correctional facility August 9, 2019, after the convicted pedophile was denied bail pending trial for decades of sexually abusing underage girls and using his vast wealth and resource to transport, hide, and bribe officials.
"Thousands of documents unsealed Friday in connection with a defamation case against the perv's alleged recruiter revealed dozens of high-profile names that a self-identified victim, Virginia Giuffre, said she was forced to perform sex acts with, from former Maine Sen. George Mitchell and ex-New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, money manager Glenn Dubin and MIT professor Marvin Minksy," reported The New York Post in August of 2019.
The conviction of Maxwell, in Manhattan, appears to cap a year where the once rich and powerful who prided themselves on being above the law have confronted by a hard dose of reality. The conviction of Maxwell is the tip of the iceberg and the exposure of 2021's affluent and prominent sex criminals are not alone in their abuse of the law.
The Wall Street law firm that planned and facilitated the drugging and rape of a former employee, ambushing her in her home as well as the subsequent pedophile set-up to force her into suicide is still lurking in the darkened shadows of the closets of the rich, powerful and Manhattan's above the law elite.
