Explainer-What are the charges in the Ghislaine Maxwell sex abuse trial?
Send a link to a friend
[November 30, 2021]
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The trial of Ghislaine
Maxwell, the British socialite accused of recruiting and grooming girls
for deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein to abuse, got underway on Monday
in New York federal court.
Here is an explanation of the charges Maxwell faces and her expected
defense:
THE MANN ACT CHARGES
Prosecutors say Maxwell between 1994 and 1997 persuaded an underaged
girl to travel from Florida to New York with the intention of having her
engage in sexual activity with Epstein. In 1996, prosecutors say Maxwell
gave an unsolicited massage to another minor girl who flew to Epstein's
New Mexico ranch from out-of-state while the girl was topless.
Maxwell is charged with two counts of violating the Mann Act, which bars
transporting individuals across state lines for illegal sexual activity.
Maxwell also two faces charges of conspiring to violate those two
sections of the Mann Act.
THE SEX TRAFFICKING CHARGES
Prosecutors also say that Maxwell, beginning in 2001, recruited one of
the four alleged victims to engage in sex acts with Epstein and provided
her with hundreds of dollars in cash after massaging Epstein, knowing
she was a minor. Maxwell sent gifts including lingerie from a New York
address to the girl's home in Florida, according to a 2021 indictment.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Nov/30/images/ads/current/culligan_sda_SFARM_2021.png)
Those allegations form the basis of charges of one charge of sex
trafficking of a minor and one charge of sex trafficking conspiracy.
Federal law bars recruiting or transporting anyone under 18 to
participate in a "commercial sex act." The trafficking charge does not
require the child to be transported across state lines.
MAXWELL'S DEFENSE
Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. Her lawyers
have argued that prosecutors are treating her as a scapegoat for
Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting
trial on sex abuse charges.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/113021pics/news_g13.jpg)
Ghislaine Maxwell sits at the start of her trial on charges of sex
trafficking, in a courtroom sketch in New York City, U.S., November
29, 2021. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
![](../images/ads/current/centraldirect_lda_SPONSOR_2021.png)
Her attorneys say that the alleged sex trafficking
victim did not mention Maxwell while cooperating with a 2007
investigation by Florida federal prosecutors into Epstein. They have
argued that all four women named in the indictment have financial
incentives to lie or exaggerate about Maxwell's involvement in the
alleged abuse.
THE PERJURY CHARGES
Maxwell faces two charges of perjury that will be tried at a later
date.
Prosecutors have accused Maxwell of lying under oath in 2016 during
a deposition for a civil lawsuit brought against her by Virginia
Giuffre, who says she was abused by Epstein while a minor. Giuffre
alleged Maxwell had defamed her by saying Giuffre lied about the
abuse.
In the 2016 deposition, Maxwell said she did not recall the presence
of sex toys in Epstein's Palm Beach house and replied "I don't know
what you're talking about" when asked if Epstein had a scheme to
recruit underage girls for sexual massages.
Prosecutors characterized these statements as "false material
declarations" in violation of a federal statute making it a crime to
lie under oath. Her lawyers said in a February 2021 court filing
that the questions posed were ambiguous and that Maxwell gave
truthful responses.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and
Alistair Bell)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Nov/30/images/ads/current/napa_sda_CHRISTMAS_2021.png) |